Illlllllllllllllllllllll 


MEMOIKS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 


/ 


Memoirs  of  Gustave  Koemer 
1809-1896 

Life-sketches  written  at  the  suggestion 
of  his  children 

Edited  by 
Thomas  J.  McCormack 

Volume  I 


THE  TORCH  PRESS.  PUBLISHERS 

CEDAR  RAPIDS,  IOWA 

1909 


COPYRIGHT  1909 
BY  MARY   K.   ENGELMANN 


£ 


k 


PREFACE 

The  personal  memoirs  of  Gustavus  Koerner  were  not 
written  for  publication.  Had  such  been  the  design,  many 
details  relating  to  his  domestic  and  social  life  had  probably 
been  omitted.  During  the  closing  years  of  a  long  and  eventful 
life,  his  children  urged  the  octogenarian  to  write  the  history 
of  his  life,  realizing,  as  he  himself  fully  realized,  that  the  most 
valuable  heritage  which  one  can  leave  to  one's  descendants  is 
one's  own  history,  provided  it  is  the  history  of  an  active, 
unselfish,  and  useful  life. 

It  is  a  source  of  regret  that  so  few  of  the  autobiographies 
of  our  prominent  men  deal  with  the  details  of  their  domestic 
and  social  life.  It  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  writers 
regard  it  as  a  sanctuary  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  public 
gaze,  the  key  to  which,  when  they  are  gone,  is  forever  lost. 
Yet  how  much  more  thorough  would  be  our  understanding 
of  their  lives  and  actions,  were  we  permitted  to  lift  the  cur- 
tain, and  get  occasional  glimpses  of  what  lies  hidden  by  its 
folds ! 

The  details  of  student  life  at  the  German  universities  in 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century ;  its  intense  idealism,  which 
dealt  with  a  world  of  dreams,  yet  which,  when  properly  util- 
ized by  the  great  chancellor,  a  man  utterly  devoid  of  senti- 
ment, made  the  creation  of  a  vast  empire  possible,  are  sketched 
in  these  memoirs  with  a  charming  simplicity.  The  domestic 
life  of  German  families  of  culture  in  the  Fatherland;  the 
emigrants'  trials  and  struggles  in  the  primeval  forests  of  the 


vi  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Far  West;  the  struggles  of  the  young  lawyer  to  make  a  pre- 
carious living  at  a  time  when  judges  and  preachers  rode  the 
circuit,  must  be  of  interest  to  the  careful  student  of  the  history 
and  growth  of  a  young  nation. 

In  common  with  others  of  his  contemporaries  who  at- 
tained eminence,  Koerner  had  to  overcome  the  disadvantages 
of  a  foreign  birth  and  of  very  limited  means.  An  indomitable 
energy,  however,  and  a  sincere  desire  to  be  of  use  to  his 
fellowmen,  enabled  him  to  overcome  these  obstacles,  until  both 
in  the  ranks  of  the  legal  profession,  and  among  the  statesman 
of  the  land,  he  gained  an  eminence  attained  by  few.  Compar- 
ing him  with  the  foremost  of  his  contemporaries  of  German 
lineage,  it  may  justly  be  said,  that  while  he  lacked  the  forensic 
eloquence  of  Carl  Schurz,  and  while  the  erudition  of  John  B. 
Stallo  may  have  been  greater,  he  surpassed  both  in  a  thorough 
understanding  of  constitutional  limitations  as  applied  to  Am- 
erican institutions,  and  was  a  far  better  judge  of  the  needs 
of  the  nation  in  measures  and  men  than  either  of  them.  Thus, 
while  in  the  National  Convention  of  1860,  Schurz  was  one  of 
the  leading  advocates  of  the  nomination  of  William  H.  Sew- 
ard  for  the  Presidency,  Koerner  was  equally  emphatic  as  a 
supporter  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  History  has  long  since  ren- 
dered her  verdict  as  to  which  of  these  two  candidates  was  apt 
to  be  the  fittest  leader  of  the  nation  in  the  hour  of  its  greatest 
need.  It  is  a  remarkable  coincidence  that  while  Koerner  was 
thus  active  in  giving  to  the  people  a  President,  who,  with 
boundless  love  and  toil,  reunited  the  fragments  of  a  nation, 
and  who,  of  all  his  predecessors,  left  the  sweetest  memory  be- 
hind him,  he  also  materially  aided  in  starting  the  nation's 
greatest  military  leader,  U.  S.  Grant,  on  his  phenomenal 
career. 


PREFACE  vii 

In  religious  belief  Koerner  was  an  agnostic.  Growing  up 
in  the  atmosphere  of  German  universities,  the  hot-bed  of  ag- 
nosticism, it  could  hardly  be  otherwise.  But  he  was  equally 
free  from  the  intolerance  of  the  zealot  and  that  of  the  skeptic. 
While  rejecting  the  mythology  of  the  Christian  religion,  he 
was  a  firm  believer  in  its  ethics,  as  being  superior  to  any 
which  has  heretofore  actuated  mankind.  Freedom  of  con- 
science meant  for  him  what  it  ought  to  mean,  the  right  of 
every  human  being  to  formulate  his  own  religious  belief.  He 
fully  realized  the  truism,  that  it  is  not  what  one  believes,  but 
what  one  does,  actuated  by  such  belief,  that  determines  the 
merit  of  his  faith.  His  letter  to  Robert  Ingersoll,  contained 
in  these  Memoirs,  is  a  lasting  monument  to  his  just  conception 
of  the  freedom  of  conscience.  In  the  small  western  community 
in  which  he  lived,  he  was  the  absolute  arbiter  of  men's  opin- 
ions on  public  questions,  because  his  integrity  and  his  ab- 
solute freedom  from  partisan  bias  were  such,  that  on  all 
public  questions  his  fellow  townsmen  were  willing  to  conform 
their  views  to  his  without  question. 

His  domestic  life,  like  that  of  most  of  our  public  men  of 
note,  was  exemplary.  Although  he  felt  keenly  the  early  loss 
of  all  his  sons  but  one,  he  bore  the  affliction  with  the  fortitude 
of  the  philosopher.  But  the  loss  in  later  years  of  his  wife 
and  life-long  companion,  inflicted  a  blow  from  which  he  never 
recovered. 

Taking  his  life  in  its  entirety,  he  was  a  man  to  whom  the 
beautiful  sentiment  of  the  German  poet  was  particularly  ap- 
plicable : 

"Denn  der  das  Beste  that  fur  seine  Zeit, 
Der  hat  genug  gethan  f iir  alle  Zeiten. ' ' 

St.  Louis,  June,  1909.  R.  E.  ROMBAUER. 


EDITORIAL  PREFATORY  NOTE 

The  scope  and  design  of  the  present  Memoirs  have  been 
adequately  indicated  in  the  foregoing  Preface  by  Judge  Rom- 
bauer.  The  task  of  the  editor  has  been  solely  that  of  inter- 
preting, rectifying,  and  preparing  for  print  the  text  of  the 
Memoirs  as  it  was  presented  to  him  in  a  typewritten  copy  of 
the  original. 

The  original  manuscript  not  having  been  accessible,  this 
task  involved  the  verification  of  proper  and  historical  names 
and  places,  the  interpretation  of  doubtful  passages,  para- 
graphing, the  correction  of  sentence-structure  and  of  certain 
Germanisms  and  solecisms  of  style,  (the  original  was  written 
in  English  when  the  author  was  over  eighty  years  of  age  and 
was  not  intended  for  publication,)  and  the  typographical 
preparation  of  the  text  for  the  press  generally.  At  the  same 
time,  —  it  having  been  the  express  wish  of  the  family  of  the 
author  that  the  Memoirs  be  left  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the 
shape  and  order  in  which  he  wrote  them,  —  these  corrections 
have  been  restricted  to  a  minimum,  and  the  author's  individ- 
ualities of  style,  and  the  personal  note  and  flavor  of  his  char- 
acterizations and  descriptions,  have  been  preserved  as  far  as 
practicable. 

The  limitation  indicated,  and  the  conditions  of  the  edit- 
ing, will  thus  account  for  certain  repetitions,  for  some  dis- 
crepancies in  the  use  of  variant  forms  of  proper  names,  and 
for  the  absence  of  all  foot-notes  and  editorial  explanations  of 
possible  errors  of  memory  or  of  historical  and  literary  ref- 


x  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

erence  by  the  author.*  Yet,  even  here,  and  save  in  the  impos- 
sible ease  of  obscure  proper  names,  the  verifications  of  the 
editor  have  extended  at  least  to  determining  the  general  accu- 
racy of  the  author's  statements;  and  any  errors  that  may 
occur  on  this  score,  and  that  are  not  corrected  in  the  index, 
are  attributable  to  the  state  of  the  original  text. 

By  the  frequent  interpolation  of  descriptive  sub-headings, 
it  is  hoped  that  the  purely  historical  and  general  discussions 
of  the  work  will  have  been  so  relieved  from  the  matter  of 
purely  personal  and  local  interest  that  the  reader  will  have 
little  difficulty  in  discovering  the  passages  that  possess  for  him 
the  greatest  interest,  and  that  the  natural  discursiveness  and 
diffuseness  of  the  text,  as  published  under  the  intimated  con- 
ditions, will  thus,  in  great  measure,  be  offset.  An  exhaustive 
index,  supplied  at  the  end  of  the  second  volume,  will  conduce 
to  the  same  end. 

All  mention  of  contemporaneous  events  and  persons  in  the 
work  is  to  be  interpreted  with  reference  to  the  date  and 
period  in  which  these  Memoirs  were  written,  —  namely, 
between  the  years  1889  and  1895.  The  narrative  ceases  with 
the  year  1886. 

THOMAS  J.  McCoRMACK. 

LaSalle,  Illinois,  August,  1909. 


*  For  example,  Vol.  I,  page  91,  the  author  compares  his  German 
poem  "Die  Saalnixe"  erroneously  to  the  "Erlkoenig"  (it  should  be  the 
"Fischer")  of  Goethe.  (See  Kattermann's  "Gustav  Koerner,  ein 
Lebensbild, "  Cincinnati,  1902).  And,  similarly,  with  regard  to  other 
possible  partly  erroneous  quotations  or  references. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

VOLUME  I 

CHAPTER  I.    BIRTH,  PARENTAGE  AND  EARLY  REC- 
OLLECTIONS     ; "' '  .        .       •.  :      ;•"     ..      '.  •'     1  to  18 

A  Childhood  Eecollection,  p.  3.  —  My  Naming, 
p.  3.  —  Napoleon  in  Frankfort,  p.  4.  —  A 
Family  Incident  of  the  Napoleonic  Campaign 
of  1813,  p.  6.  —  The  Bavarians  in  Frankfort 
(1813),  p.  10.  —  The  Allied  Monarchs  and  Their 
Armies  in  Frankfort,  p.  11.  —  Family  Connec- 
tions with  Famous  German  Patriots,  p.  13.  — 
Anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  Leipsic,  p.  16.  — 
The  Year  1815.  Bluecher,  p.  17. 

CHAPTER   II.     SCHOOL  LIFE          .        *       ...       .      19  to  36 

At  the  Musterschule,  p.  19.  —  My  Eeading,  p. 
21. —  Home  Life  in  Frankfort,  p.  22. —  Re- 
ligious Training.  Family  Portraits,  p.  24.  — 
At  College,  p.  28.  —  Henry  Hoffmann  and 
"Struwwelpeter,"  p.  30.  —  Early  Poetical  Ef- 
forts, p.  32.  —  Von  Leonhardi,  p.  35. 

CHAPTER  III.     SCHOOL  LIFE  CONTINUED.     EASILY 

TRAVELS  .        .        .        ;        ;        .        .      37  to  69 

The  Political  Situation  and  the  Greek  War  of 
Independence,  p.  38.  —  Athletic  Sports,  p.  42. 
—  Early  Professional  Plans,  p.  43.  —  Social 
Life,  p.  44.  —  The  Thilenius  Family,  p.  46.  — 
Attractions  of  Frankfort,  p.  50.  —  Early 
Travels,  p.  51.  —  Business  Reverses,  and  Art 
Matters,  p.  53.  —  Early  Travels  Continued,  p. 
56.  —  Last  Days  in  Frankfort,  p.  66. 

CHAPTER  IV.     UNIVERSITY  LIFE  —  JENA      .  70  to  108 

To  Jena  by  Stage-coach,  p.  71.  —  Student  Life 
in  Jena.  The  Burgkeller,  p.  75.  —  The  Ger- 
man Burschenschaft,  and  the  Movement  for 
National  Unity,  p.  81.  —  Altenburg,  p.  87.  — 
Student-friends,  p.  88.  —  A  Trip  to  Southern 
Germany,  p.  92.  —  Munich,  p.  94.  —  Salzburg 
and  the  Tyrol,  p.  97.  —  Back  to  Jena,  p.  105. 


xii  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

CHAPTER  V.     LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  (1829-1830)        109  to  136 

Protestant  Tricentennial,  p.  111.  —  Trip  Through 
the  Hartz  Mountains,  p.  112.  —  Jena  Again. 
Visit  to  Leipsic,  p.  114.  —  Berlin  and  North- 
ern Germany,  p.  116.  —  Mecklenburg.  Lue- 
beck.  Kiel,  p.  119.  —  Schleswig  and  Hamburg, 
p.  126.  —  Political  Disturbances  of  1830,  p. 
129.  —  A  Pistol  Duel  in  Jena,  p.  133.  —  Con- 
cluding Eeflections  on  Jena,  p.  136. 

CHAPTER  VI.    MUNICH      .  .        .  138  to  169 

From  Jena  to  Erlangen,  p.  139.  —  Life  and 
Studies  in  Munich,  p.  141.  —  Munich  Celeb- 
rities, p.  144.  —  The  Munich  Emeute  of  Christ- 
mas Eve,  1830,  p.  146.  —  Arrest  and  Imprison- 
ment, p.  150.  —  Life  in  a  Munich  Prison,  p. 
152.  —  Release,  p.  160.  —  Salzburg  and  the 
Bavarian  Tyrol,  p.  162.  —  Duels  in  Munich, 
p.  163.  —  Farewell  to  Munich,  p.  166.  —  Home- 
ward Bound.  The  Suabian  Alp,  p.  167. 

CHAPTER  VII.    HEIDELBERG       ...        .        .      170  to  186 

The  Heidelberg  Burschenschaft,  p.  173.  —  Hei- 
delberg Acquaintances,  p.  174.  —  Refugee 
Poles  in  Germany,  p.  176.  —  Hecker.  A  Hei- 
delberg Duel,  p.  179.  —  Imsbach  and  the 
Engelmann  Family,  p.  181. 

CHAPTER  VIII.     THE  HAMBACH  FESTIVAL        '/      187  to  195 

Wirth  and  the  Press  Unions,  p.  187.  —  The 
Hambacher  Schloss  Festival,  p.  189.  —  The 
Speeches,  p.  191.  —  Concluding  Meetings,  and 
Results,  p.  194. 

CHAPTER  IX.    BEFORE  THE  STORM          .        .      196  to  215 

First  German  Law  Suit,  p.  196.  —  Political 
Events,  p.  197.  —  Associates  in  Frankfort,  p. 
199.  —  Revolutionary  Propaganda,  p.  203.  — 
The  Situation  in  Cassel,  p.  204. —  Dr.  Syl- 
vester Jordan,  p.  204.  —  In  Goettingen,  p. 
206.  —  Liberalism  in  Saxony,  p.  208.  —  Affairs 
in  Jena.  Fritz  Reuter,  p.  210.  —  The  Cause  in 
Bavaria,  p.  212. 

CHAPTER  X.  THE  THIRD  OP  APRIL,  1833  t .  216  to  242 
Plans  of  the  Revolutionists,  p.  217.  —  Confer- 
ence with  Schueler  in  Metz,  p.  220.  —  The  Be- 
ginning, p.  223.  —  Official  Report  of  the 
Frankfurter  Attentat,  p.  224.  —  Koseritz  and 
the  Wuertemberg  Rising,  p.  231.  —  Further 
Ramifications  of  the  Plot,  p.  232.  —  Pro  Domo 
Sua,  p.  232. —  The  Outcome  and  the  Flight, 
p.  235.  —  Refuge  in  France,  p.  240. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Xlll 


CHAPTER  XL     IN  FRANCE         .     i  ^  r/'J     ..g      243  to  264 

Paris,  p.  255.  —  The  Havre  Emigrants,  p.   258. 

CHAPTER  XII.    FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  Louis       >*      265  to  285 

A  Transatlantic  Voyage  in  1833,  p.  266.  —  New 
York  in  1833,  p.  272. —  Up  the  Hudson,  p. 
275.  —  From  Albany  to  Buffalo  in  a  Canal- 
Boat,  p.  277.  —  From  Cleveland  to  the  Ohio 
via  the  Canal,  p.  280. 

CHAPTER  XIII.    EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS 

IN  ILLINOIS  .'-.;;..  .  .  .  286  to  310 
The  Outlook,  p.  286.  —  Seeking  a  Home  in  Illi- 
nois, p.  290.  —  St.  Louis  in  1833,  p.  293.  —  On 
a  Farm  in  Illinois,  p.  296.  —  Deer-hunting,  p. 
304.  —  German  Emigration  Societies,  p.  306.  — 
Early  Neighbors,  p.  309. 

CHAPTER  XIV.    FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA          t/      311  to  345 

Foot-tour  Through  Missouri  in  1833,  p.  312. — 
Early  Foreign  Settlements  in  Missouri,  p. 
320.  —  Home  in  Illinois  Again,  p.  323.  — 
Studies  and  Journalistic  Labors,  p.  325.  — 
Polish  Visitors,  p.  332.  —  An  Illinois  Court,  and 
Politics,  p.  334.  —  Local  and  Family  Remin- 
iscences, p.  337.  —  A  Methodist  Camp-meeting, 
p.  343.  —  Departure  for  Kentucky,  p.  344. 

CHAPTER  XV.     STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON         346  to  367 

A  Visit  to  Henry  Clay,  p.  349.  —  Professional 
and  Social  Life  in  Lexington,  p.  351.  — 
Church-going  Experiences,  p.  356.  —  Friends 
in  Lexington,  p.  357.  —  A  Debating  Club,  p. 
361.  —  An  Incident  of  the  River-trip  Home,  p. 
365. 

CHAPTER  XVI.    BEGINNING  THE  PRACTICE  OF 

THE  LAW   (1835-1836)         .        .        .        .      368  to  418 

Accessions  to  the  German  Settlement,  p.  369.  — 
An  Examination  at  the  Illinois  Bar,  in  1835, 
p.  371.  —  First  Law-case,  p.  376.  —  European 
Politics  in  1835,  p.  379.  —  Political  Situation  in 
the  United  States,  p.  381.  —  William  Lloyd  Gar- 
rison, p.  385.  —  New  Arrivals,  p.  386.  —  Prac- 
tice of  Law,  p.  389.  —  Kaskaskia,  p.  390.  —  The 
Family  in  Germany,  p.  395.  —  A  Trip  to  Chi- 
cago in  1836,  p.  397.  —  Journalistic  Activity, 
p.  401.  —  Marriage,  p.  405.  —  A  Fourth  of 
July  Celebration,  p.  407.  —  The  "Westland," 
p.  410.  —  The  Public  Library  in  Belleville,  p. 
412. —  James  Shields,  p.  414. 


xiv  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

CHAPTER  XVII.     EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS       .      419  to  447 

Further  Accessions  to  the  German  Settlement,  p. 
419.  —  Pro-German  Conventions,  p.  423.  — 
Lyman  Trumbull,  p.  425.  —  Legal  Labors,  p. 
429. —  Family  and  Other  Affairs,  p.  433.— 
The  Financial  Situation,  p.  435.  —  Domestic 
Matters,  p.  438.  —  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  Too, 
p.  440. 

CHAPTER  XVIII.    THE  YEARS  1841-1842          .      448  to  476 

Sent  as  an  Electoral  Messenger  to  Washington, 
p.  450.  —  In  the  Capital,  p.  451.  —  To  Belle- 
ville via  Philadelphia,  p.  455.  —  Personal  and 
Local  Incidents,  p.  458.  —  Elected  to  the  Illi- 
nois Legislature,  p.  464.  —  The  Old  Lutherans 
and  Bishop  Stephan,  p.  469.  —  A  Visit  from 
Charles  Dickens,  p.  473.  —  Close  of  the  year 
1842,  p.  475. 

CHAPTER  XIX.     IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  AND  ON 

THE  SUPREME  BENCH          .  ""     .        .     ,"'.,.     477  to  505 

The  Illinois  Legislature  of  1842-43,  p.  477. — 
A  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  p.  483.  —  Joseph 
Smith,  p.  484.  —  Political  and  Personal,  p. 
485.  —  Presidential  Election  of  1844,  p.  487.  — 
Appointed  to  the  Supreme  Court,  p.  490.  — 
European  Affairs,  p.  492.  —  The  Mexican  War, 
p.  494.  —  Buena  Vista,  p.  503. 

CHAPTER  XX.     THE  YEARS  1847-1848       .        .      506  to  514 

Judge  Caton,  p.  509.  —  European  Conditions  in 
1847,  p.  511. 

CHAPTER  XXI.     THE  REVOLUTIONS  OF  1848  515  to  526 

The  German  Parliament  of  1848,  p.  517.  —  Plans 
of  Keturning  to  Germany,  p.  520.  —  The  New 
Illinois  Constitution,  p.  523.  —  The  Presi- 
dential Election  of  1848,  p.  525. 

CHAPTER  XXII.     THE  YEARS  1849-50        .        .      527  to  562 

Hecker,  p.  528.  —  The  Eevolution  in  Baden,  p. 
531.  —  American  Sympathy  with  the  European 
Eevolutionists,  p.  533.  —  Shields  elected  United 
States  Senator,  p.  541.  —  The  Cholera  of 
1849,  p.  542. —  Shields  and  Hecker,  p.  545.— 
European  Political  Exiles,  p.  547.  — German 
Political  Eef ormers  in  America,  p.  547.  — 
Admission  of  California,  p.  552.  —  New  Ar- 
rivals in  Belleville,  p.  559.  —  High  School  at 
Belleville,  p.  562. 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS  xv 

CHAPTER  XXIII.     THE  YEAR  1851          .        .       563  to  581 

Political  and  Business  Activity,  p.  564.  —  The 
German  Kef  ormers  Again,  p.  566.  —  The 
Cuban  Expedition,  p.  568.  —  Jefferson  Bar- 
racks, p.  572.  —  Kinkel  and  Schurz,  p.  573.  — 
Kossuth's  Oratory,  p.  577. 

CHAPTER    XXIV.    NAMED    FOR    LIEUTENANT- 
GOVERNOR  (1852)         .        .        .        .        .582  to  589 

Kossuth  in  St.  Louis,  p.  583.  —  The  Nomination, 
p.  585.  —  Don  Morrison,  p.  587.  —  Death  of 
Clay,  p.  589. 

CHAPTER  XXV.    RUNNING   FOR    LIEUTENANT- 
GOVERNOR    (1852)        .        .        ...      590  to  603 

Campaigning  with  Douglas,  p.  591.  —  Politics 
in  Chicago  in  1852,  p.  593.  —  Canvassing  the 
Eest  of  the  State,  p.  596.  —  The  Election,  p. 
598. 

CHAPTER  XXVI.     THE  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR- 
SHIP (3853-1856)          .        .         .        .        .       604  to  628 

Personal,  p.  604.  —  Legislative  Session  of  1854, 
p.  607.  —  Visit  of  the  Legislature  to  Chicago, 
p.  608.  —  Visit  of  the  Legislature  to  St. 
Louis,  p.  611.  —  Loss  of  the  City  of  Glasgow, 
p.  613.  —  Douglas  and  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill,  p.  614. —  Robert  Hilgard  and  Henry 
Villard,  p.  618.  —  The  Prohibition  Agitation, 
p.  620.  —  Trumbull  Elected  Senator,  p.  623.  — 
Emerson,  p.  626.  —  Theodore  Koerner  's  Death, 
p.  627. 


CHAPTER  I 

Birth,  Parentage  and  Early  Recollections 

I  was  born  at  Frankfort  on  the  Main,  on  the  20th  of 
November,  1809.  My  father's  house  stood  in  a  small  square, 
called  the  Treves,  from  its  being  connected  by  a  vaulted  stone 
portal  with  the  Treves  Court,  —  a  large  avenue,  at  the  south 
end  of  which  stood  a  residence,  of  goodly  size,  but  without 
architectural  pretensions.  Court  and  house  belonged,  or  had 
belonged,  to  the  Elector  of  Treves,  who  resided  there  at 
coronation  times.  In  my  childhood  the  court  was  surrounded 
on  either  side  by  large  warehouses,  where  wholesale  dealers 
in  groceries,  provisions,  and  leather,  stored  goods  not  imme- 
diately wanted  at  their  business  houses.  It  was  a  splendid 
place  for  me  and  our  neighbors'  children  to  play  in,  it  being 
no  common  thoroughfare.  Near  the  Electoral  residence  were 
large  fine  linden  trees  and  a  very  good  well.  The  doors  of 
the  warehouses  being  frequently  open,  when  goods  were  taken 
out  or  in,  it  was  just  the  place  to  play  "hide-and-seek,"  and 
"robbers"  and  "gendarmes."  Occasionally  we  fought  real 
battles,  particularly  when  boys  from  a  distance  encroached 
on  what  we  considered  our  premises. 

Treves  Court  was  connected  by  a  short  alley  with  what 
was  then  the  main  street  of  Frankfort,  the  Zeil;  so  that, 
when  anything  extraordinary  was  happening  on  that  thor- 
oughfare, we  could  run  easily  to  this  great  artery  of  the  city. 

The  neighborhood  was  a  good  one.  On  the  square  stood 
several  private  residences,  and  also  other  dwellings  with 
roomy  stores  on  the  ground  floor.  My  playmates  were  sons 
of  merchants,  professional  men,  master  tailors  and  bakers, 
the  latter  at  the  time  being  generally  men  of  means  and 
influence,  from  whose  ranks  the  third  bench  of  the  magistracy 


2      MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

(councilmen)  had  to  be  formed.     I  can  only  say  that  I  passed 
some  of  my  sunniest  days  in  Treves  Court. 

My  father,  Bernhard  Koerner,  was  a  native  of  Stuttgart, 
in  the  present  kingdom  of  Wuertemberg,  the  son  of  a  respect- 
able mechanic.  He  left  that  place,  however,  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  or  sixteen,  after  receiving  his  education  in  a  good 
school,  and  entered  as  an  apprentice  the  book-store  and  pub- 
lishing house  of  Palm  and  Enke  in  Erlangen.  After  he  had 
completed  his  term,  he  was  recommended  by  his  employers 
to  the  great  and  celebrated  book-selling  and  publishing  firm 
of  Broenner  &  Co.,  in  Frankfort  on  the  Main,  and  was  an 
employee  there  (commis)  for  several  years.  When  about 
twenty-three  or  four  years  of  age,  he  became  acquainted 
with  my  mother,  Marie  Magdelena  Kaempfe,  whose  father 
conducted  a  book-bindery,  a  small  retail  book-store  and  sta- 
tionery business.  He  was  a  man  of  means  and  gave  my 
mother  a  good  education  hi  a  private  school,  where  French 
—  a  rare  thing  at  that  time  —  was  very  thoroughly  taught. 
I  have  only  a  dim  recollection  of  my  maternal  grandfather. 
When  I  was  old  enough  to  visit  him,  he  was  seventy-five  years 
of  age,  and  somewhat  paralyzed.  On  his  birthday  and  on 
New  Year's  day  we  would  be  taken  to  congratulate  him,  and 
would  receive  a  silver  dollar  or  two  in  return. 

My  father  was  barely  of  medium  size,  but  well  built  and 
very  muscular,  with  dark  brown  curly  hair  and  very  bright 
brown  eyes.  My  mother  had  been  a  blonde,  but  in  later  years 
her  hair  had  changed  to  an  auburn  color;  she  had  large  and 
very  blue  eyes,  and  a  fair  complexion. 

For  persons  to  analyze  the  character  of  their  parents 
and  pass  judgment,  however  favorable,  upon  it,  has  always 
appeared  to  me  rather  indelicate.  Love  does  not  seek  for 
reasons  of  its  being.  It  is  in  a  measure  unconscious.  I  con- 
fine myself  to  saying  that  our  parents  loved  us  dearly,  that 
we  in  return  loved  them,  and  that  they  deserved  it.  There 
was  one  trait,  however,  in  my  mother's  nature  that  I  cannot 
forbear  mentioning.  She  could  never  in  the  least  dissemble, 
and  when  the  occasion  called  for  it,  she  was  one  of  the  most 


EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  3 

outspoken  persons  I  ever  met  with.     No  power  on  earth  could 
have  compelled  her  to  say  anything  she  did  not  think. 

A   CHILDHOOD   RECOLLECTION 

My  recollections  run  back  to  a  very  early  stage  of  my 
existence.  I  could  hardly  have  been  more  than  two  years  of 
age,  when  I  was  for  some  reason  very  anxious  to  see  my 
mother.  I  went  to  all  the  rooms  on  the  second  floor  without 
finding  her.  I  then  climbed  up  the  stairs  to  the  third  story, 
where  were  the  bedrooms  of  my  parents  and  older  brothers 
and  sisters.  Not  seeing  her  there,  I  went  out  into  the  hall 
again,  where  a  door  opened  into  a  small  room,  called  a  cabinet, 
adjoining  my  mother's  bedroom.  I  entered,  and  what  I  saw 
impressed  itself  upon  my  mind  indelibly.  On  two  chairs 
stood  a  little  coffin;  in  it  was  a  pale,  lovely  child,  with  my 
mother  kneeling  at  its  side,  weeping.  I  was  frightened,  shut 
the  door,  and  ran  down  stairs.  From  what  I  learned  after- 
wards, it  was  the  body  of  a  little  brother  of  mine,  a  year  or  so 
younger  than  I  was.  His  name  was  Louis.  I  have  no  other 
recollection  of  the  child. 

MY  NAMING 

But  from  my  fourth  year  on,  I  have  some  very  vivid 
recollections.  And  I  may  here  say  in  passing  that  my  having 
been  named  Gustave  was  owing  to  that  eccentric  King  of 
Sweden,  Gustavus  Adolphus  IV,  who,  shortly  before  I  was 
born,  had,  on  account  of  his  undying  opposition  to  Napoleon, 
been  forced  to  abdicate  by  his  own  people,  who  considered 
his  warring  against  Napoleon  as  warring  against  fate  to  the 
detriment  of  his  country.  Nevertheless,  this  king  had  shown 
a  chivalric  spirit,  and  was  the  only  continental  prince  who 
never  bowed  to  the  world's  conqueror.  My  father  hated 
Napoleon  with  all  the  fervor  of  his  nature,  and  hence  named 
me  for  the  king. 

One  of  the  many  reasons  of  my  father's  hatred  of  Napo- 
leon was  that  Palm,  the  bookseller,  for  selling  a  pamphlet 
entitled  "Germany  in  its  Deepest  Humiliation,"  which  he 


4  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

had  not  published,  but  merely  had  for  sale,  without  knowing 
its  contents,  had  been  arrested,  tried  by  a  court-martial  (in 
times  of  peace),  and  upon  the  express  order  of  Napoleon  had 
been  shot  at  Braunau  within  twenty-four  hours.  My  father 
as  I  have  stated  had  served  his  apprenticeship  with  Palm, 
whom  he  had  greatly  loved  and  respected. 

My  other  name,  Philip,  I  got  from  an  intimate  friend  of 
my  father's,  a  merchant  at  Heilbronn,  by  the  name  of  Roeder. 
I  have  in  my  possession  a  fine  morocco  case,  containing  a 
silver  spoon,  silver  fork,  and  a  knife  with  silver  handle,  which 
Mr.  Roeder  gave  me  as  my  godfather.  From  Gustavus  Adol- 
phus  IV,  I  received  no  present,  but  my  name  only,  which  I 
owe  not  so  much  to  him  as  to  the  first  Napoleon. 

Mentioning  the  latter,  I  may  as  well  say,  that  I  was 
told  later  that  I  had  seen  him. 

NAPOLEON   IN   FRANKFORT 

When  in  July  or  August,  1813,  during  an  armistice, 
Napoleon,  after  a  meeting  with  his  wife  at  Mayence,  returned 
to  Dresden,  and  before  the  German  campaign  had  re-begun, 
he  passed  through  Frankfort.  One  of  our  servant-girls  had 
been  sent  on  an  errand  in  the  Zeil  and  took  me  with  her. 
She  saw  a  crowd  on  the  sidewalk  awaiting  something,  and 
was  told  that  the  Emperor,  who  had  just  entered  one  of  the 
west  gates  leading  into  the  city,  was  expected  to  drive  through 
the  street.  She  joined  the  crowd,  and  the  carriage,  an  open 
one,  drawn  by  six  horses,  soon  appeared;  she  raised  me  on 
her  shoulder  and  pointed  out  the  Emperor  to  me.  I  have 
not  the  slightest  recollection  of  the  circumstance,  but  have 
no  doubt  that  I  saw  him.  This  is  the  more  strange,  as  events 
that  followed  not  long  afterwards  became  very  distinctly 
impressed  on  my  mind. 

The  bloody  battle  of  Hanau,  a  village  about  ten  miles 
east  of  Frankfort,  had  been  fought  on  the  30th  and  31st  of 
October,  1813.  The  French,  headed  by  Napoleon,  had  broken 
through  the  army  of  Bavarians  and  Austrians  under  General 
Wrede,  who  was  striving  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  French 


EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  5 

to  the  Rhine.  A  small  corps  of  Bavarians  and  Austrians  had 
been  posted  on  the  heights  south  of  the  River  Main,  opposite 
to  Frankfort,  to  prevent  the  crossing  of  the  French. 

I  never  could  understand  why  this  position  had  been 
taken  by  the  Germans;  for  the  well-built  and  macadamized 
road  from  Frankfort  to  Mayence  ran  along  the  north  side 
of  the  river  Main,  while  on  the  south  side  were  merely  country 
roads,  partly  through  low  and  sandy  grounds,  and  ending 
opposite  Mayence.  The  French  would  have  had  to  cross 
the  Main  River  again,  at  a  place  where  there  was  no  bridge. 
Perhaps  it  was  expected  that  if  only  one  road  were  left  there 
might  be  crowding;  and  as  the  Bavarians,  reinforced  by  the 
Prussians  and  Russians,  were  close  upon  the  heels  of  the 
French  after  Hanau  was  fought,  the  rear  guard  of  the  French 
might  in  this  way  be  struck  and  destroyed.  Although  Na- 
poleon had  the  main  army  carried  around  the  city,  yet  some 
of  his  guards  and  several  batteries  of  artillery  were  sent 
through  the  city,  to  attack  the  Bavarians  and  Austrians  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river;  for  the  batteries  of  the  latter 
played  on  the  Hanau  road,  on  which  the  French  retreated. 

Some  German  light  troops  had  been  thrown  into  the  city ; 
but  when  the  large  mass  of  the  French,  still  some  80,000 
strong,  came  near,  the  Germans  retreated  across  the  river, 
burning  some  of  the  wooden  parts  of  the  bridge  which  had 
been  put  on  the  main  avenue  of  the  otherwise  solid  stone 
structure,  and  leaving  only  the  sidewalks  for  passage.  Frank- 
fort, until  shortly  before,  had  been  a  fortress ;  and  these  wooden 
planks  had  been  placed  in  the  bridge  for  the  purpose  of 
having  them  burnt,  or  taken  off,  should  an  attempt  be  made 
to  cross  the  bridge  from  the  suburb  Sachsenhausen  to  the  city. 

On  the  first  of  November,  some  children  including  myself 
were  in  the  front  room  of  the  second  story  of  our  house,  and 
mother  was  busy  dressing  us  in  our  Sunday  clothes,  when 
firing  was  heard  close  to  our  house.  A  servant  who  had  been 
fetching  water  from  a  fountain  near  our  house  burst  into 
the  room,  crying,  "Lord  God!  they  are  killing  one  another." 


6      MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

We  ran  to  the  windows,  and  saw  some  Bavarians  running 
past  our  house,  with  some  French  light  troops  after  them. 
They  disappeared  in  a  moment ;  but  in  the  distance  we  heard 
firing.  The  cannon  began  booming  from  the  Muehlberg  on 
the  southern  shore  of  the  river,  and  the  French  batteries  on 
the  north  answered;  of  this,  however,  I  recollect  nothing. 
At  night  the  sky  was  lit  up  by  the  glare  of  fires.  Two  large 
mills  near  the  bridge  on  the  side  of  Sachsenhausen  were  burnt 
by  the  shells ;  also,  some  houses  in  Sachsenhausen.  The  French 
did  not  get  across  the  bridge,  and  retired  late  at  night.  Being 
exhausted,  hungry  and  thirsty,  they  commenced  plundering; 
and  it  was  fortunate  that  it  was  only  a  small  corps  that  had 
been  sent  into  the  city  to  take  the  bridge,  since,  as  already 
stated,  Napoleon  had  ordered  the  main  army  to  march  around 
the  city. 

A  FAMILY  INCIDENT  OP  THE  NAPOLEONIC  CAMPAIGN  OF  1813 

And  here  I  must  mention  an  incident  which  I  heard  of 
only  later,  but  so  often  that  it  remained  strongly  fixed  in 
my  mind. 

When  it  became  known  Sunday  morning  that  the  French 
army  had  not  been  beaten  at  Hanau  and  diverted  from  their 
direct  route  to  Mayence,  the  townspeople  became  greatly 
alarmed;  for  it  appeared  certain  that  the  retreating  army 
would  now  pass  through  the  city,  and  that  having  been  fight- 
ing for  two  days  and  being  short  of  provisions  it  would  most 
likely  commit  all  kinds  of  outrages  and  would  plunder  ad 
libitum.  Since  some  French  troops,  as  above  stated,  actually 
had  entered  the  city  to  attack  the  allies  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river,  this  fear  semed  to  be  well  founded.  It  was  not  then 
known  that  the  bulk  of  the  army  had  been  ordered  to  march 
around  the  city. 

Most  families,  on  the  streets  where  the  French  appeared 
likely  to  pass,  locked  up  and  barricaded  their  front  doors  and 
windows;  while  others  adopted  a  different  plan,  which  they 
understood  had  worked  well  in  other  places  where  troops  had 
given  themselves  up  to  plundering,  and  this  was  to  have  the 


EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  7 

house  lighted,  to  prepare  something  to  eat  and  to  drink,  and, 
by  kind  treatment  and  by  assuaging  hunger  and  thirst,  thus 
to  divert  the  soldiers  from  plundering  and  destroying  prop- 
erty in  their  anger. 

Our  mother  had  adopted  this  latter  mode  of  treatment. 
Father  had  not  been  home  since  midnight  of  the  day  before. 
He  belonged  to  a  battalion  of  riflemen,  a  volunteer  corps, 
which  had  enlisted  many  years  before  the  French  invasion, 
and  which  was  occasionally  called  upon  to  assist  the  regular 
troops  in  the  work  of  keeping  order.  There  were  very  few 
regulars  then  in  the  city;  for  nearly  all  the  troops  had  been 
in  the  campaign  against  the  French  army. 

It  must  be  understood  that  after  the  abdication  of  the 
Emperor  Francis  II  and  the  dissolution  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire  in  August,  1806,  the  free  city  of  Frankfort  had  been 
allotted  to  Prince  Primas  Karl  Theodor  Von  Dalberg,  and  had 
become  part  of  the  new  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  of  which 
Prince  Primas  was  the  President  and  Napoleon  the  Protector, 
that  is  to  say,  absolute  ruler.  Some  years  later  this  principal- 
ity was  made  the  Grand  Dukedom  of  Frankfort.  The  Confed- 
eration of  the  Rhine  comprised  nearly  all  the  German  States 
except  Austria  and  Prussia,  and  had  to  furnish  troops  to  the 
armies  of  the  French.  Until  the  battle  of  Leipsic,  October 
18,  1813,  there  could  not  have  been  less  than  100,000  German 
troops  fighting  under  the  French  eagles  against  the  allied 
Prussians,  Russians,  and  Austrians.  After  the  battle  of  Leip- 
sic, when  the  French  in  their  rapid  flight  took  the  road  to 
Mayence,  there  was  great  excitement  in  the  city;  and  so  the 
authorities  had  ordered  out  the  rifle-corps  to  assist  the  Grand 
Ducal  troops  in  policing  the  city  and  in  maintaining  order. 

My  father  was  second  lieutenant  and  was  stationed  with 
his  company  at  the  main  guard-house  at  the  western  end  of 
the  principal  street,  his  watch  beginning  at  midnight  on  the 
31st  of  October.  We  children  had  all  been  safely  packed 
away  in  a  bedroom  on  the  third  floor.  During  the  evening 
our  house  had  not  been  disturbed.  The  large  table  in  the 
main  room,  covered  with  bread,  butter,  slices  of  ham,  etc., 


8  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

had  remained  untouched,  and  mother  (it  being  near  mid- 
night) was  just  about  to  snuff  out  the  candles,  when  there 
was  a  loud  knock  at  the  front  door.  A  young  man  by  the 
name  of  Wehrie,  whose  father  was  an  intimate  friend  of  my 
father,  and  who  resided  at  Forst,  in  what  is  now  Rhenish 
Bavaria,  owning  there  some  of  the  best  vineyards  producing 
that  choice  wine,  "Forster,"  was  at  the  time  boarding  at  our 
house,  and  went  down  to  open  the  door.  He  met  two  cav- 
alry soldiers,  guardes  d'honneur,  as  they  were  called,  who  had 
tied  their  horses  to  a  lamp-post  in  front  of  our  house,  and 
who  asked  for  something  to  eat.  He  showed  them  up,  and 
mother,  who  spoke  French  fluently,  waited  on  them ;  they  ap- 
peared much  pleased,  but  did  not  like  the  light  wine  or  cider 
which  was  on  the  table,  and  called  for  something  stronger. 
Mother  was  imprudent  enough  to  let  them  have  some  rum, 
which  they  swallowed  greedily.  But  they  left  the  room  with- 
out trouble,  and  young  Wehrie  lighted  them  down  with  a 
candle. 

One  of  the  troopers  had  already  left  the  house,  when  the 
other  who  was  quite  drunk,  seeing  that  Wehrie  had  on  a  pair 
of  good-looking  boots,  told  him  to  pull  them  off,  and  give 
them  to  him  as  his  were  quite  worn  out.  The  young  man 
hardly  understood  him,  but  from  the  signs  the  fellow  made 
guessed  that  he  wanted  his  boots,  and  naturally  showed  some 
reluctance  to  take  them  off.  The  Frenchman  struck  him  in 
the  breast,  and  Wehrie  fell  backward  on  one  of  the  steps  in 
a  sitting  position.  The  trooper  tried  to  pull  one  of  the  boots 
off,  but  not  succeeding  he  gave  a  strong  jerk  and  the  young 
man  fell  downstairs  some  three  or  four  steps  so  forcibly  that 
he  broke  his  right  leg  above  the  ankle.  The  acute  pain  made 
him  groan  dreadfully.  Greatly  alarmed,  mother  ran  to  the 
head  of  the  stairs,  with  a  lighted  candle,  for  the  light  which 
Wehrie  had  carried  had  gone  out  in  the  struggle.  But,  just 
at  this  moment,  my  father,  having  been  relieved,  and  enter- 
ing the  hall,  heard  the  cries  for  help,  and  saw  the  soldier  still 
holding  Wehrie.  Father,  who  was  very  strong,  and  of  a  quick 


EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  9 

temper,  grabbed  the  Frenchman  by  the  neck,  tore  off  his 
cloak,  dragged  him  to  the  door  and  kicked  him  out. 

But  here  comes  the  main  point  of  the  drama.  The  second 
trooper  had  mounted  his  horse,  holding  the  other  by  the  bridle, 
and  waiting  for  his  comrade.  When  father  got  into  the  door- 
way, the  Frenchman  seeing  the  plight  in  which  his  comrade 
was,  drew  his  long  straight  blade,  and  ran  it  into  my  father's 
breast,  or  at  least  tried  to  do  so.  Officers  on  duty  at  that 
time  wore,  on  a  chain  around  their  necks,  a  small  metal  plate 
in  the  shape  of  a  half -moon  (Ringkragen)  with  the  number 
of  their  regiment  or  battalion  on  it.  It  only  came  down  some 
four  inches  on  the  breast  where  it  was  widest.  The  sword 
struck  this  little  shield,  glanced  off  and  made  only  an  ugly 
flesh  wound.  In  later  years,  when  I  was  a  boy  and  went  with 
father  to  the  river  bathing,  I  could  still  perceive  this  large 
scar.  Mother  in  the  meantime  had  come  down,  shut  and 
locked  the  door,  and  heard  the  sacres  of  the  Frenchmen,  who, 
however,  made  off  very  quickly.  A  surgeon  was  called  by  the 
porter,  father's  wound  attended  to,  and  young  Wehrle's  leg 
set.  The  latter  limped  all  his  life.  Father's  cloak,  a  wide 
one,  with  a  cape  coming  down  to  the  knees,  and  of  a  dark 
green  color,  was  kept  for  years  as  a  memento  of  this  adventure, 
though  it  had  to  do  occasional  service  as  a  foot-cover,  when 
riding  out  on  cold  days. 

The  French  guardes  d'honneur  or  cavalry  troops  referred 
to  were  organized  early  in  the  year  for  the  German  campaign. 
It  was  a  hard  matter,  after  the  terrible  losses  in  Russia,  to 
recruit  a  new  army  in  France,  particularly  cavalry.  The  Im- 
perial government  therefore  issued  a  call  for  all  young  men 
not  yet  in  the  army,  and  able  to  furnish  horses  and  to  equip 
themselves  at  their  own  expense,  to  come  to  the  rescue  of 
their  country.  They  were  promised  special  privileges,  were 
to  be  called  guardes  d'honneur  and  to  rank  with  the  old 
guards.  Some  regiments  were  recruited  in  this  way,  though 
not  nearly  as  many  as  was  expected.  But,  as  soldiers,  they 
did  not  answer  at  all  the  high  expectations  that  people  had 
entertained  of  them.  They  were  generally  arrogant,  licen- 


10  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

tious,  and  wanting  in  discipline.  Later  in  the  war  Napoleon 
withdrew  nearly  all  his  veteran  cavalry  from  Spain  and 
Italy,  and  they  became  formidable  enough  at  the  end  of  the 
campaign,  under  Murat,  Arrighi  and  Grouchy. 

While,  of  course,  I  do  not  remember  anything  of  that 
stormy  night,  I  have  the  most  clear  and  vivid  recollection  of 
some  of  the  days  following. 

THE  BAVARIANS  IN  FRANKFORT    (1813) 

The  French  reached  Mayence  next  day,  hotly  pursued 
by  Cossacks  and  Austrian  light  horse,  but  were  now  across  the 
Rhine,  safe  at  least  for  a  while.  On  the  3d  of  November  the 
Bavarians,  who  had  fought  most  desperately  at  Hanau  (Gen. 
Wrede  being  severely  wounded  while  leading  an  attack  in 
person),  entered  Frankfort  amid  the  most  joyful  demonstra- 
tions of  the  people,  who  had  at  no  time  sympathized  with  the 
French  and  hated  them  cordially. 

It  was  soon  understood  that  the  Bavarians  were  in  a 
very  bad  plight.  They  had  fought  one  of  the  bloodiest  battles 
of  the  war,  were  very  short  of  rations,  and  were  completely 
worn  out.  Before  they  had  been  sent  to  quarters  they  had 
been  drawn  up  in  long  lines  on  Main  Street  (Zeil)  and 
when  the  word  was  given  to  stack  arms  most  of  them  laid 
down  on  their  knapsacks,  greatly  exhausted.  But  now  the 
citizens  came  forth  in  crowds,  with  loaves  of  bread,  cakes, 
sandwiches,  pitchers  filled  with  wine,  beer,  and  brandy.  The 
first  ladies  of  the  town  served  them  food  and  drink.  The  more 
enthusiastic  embraced  and  kissed  them.  "Hoch  Deutsch- 
land ' '  was  heard  from  a  thousand  lips. 

Our  household  was  not  behind.  Our  porter  and  the  ser- 
vant-girl carried  large  baskets  with  meat  and  bread.  My 
older  brothers,  Charles  and  Frederick,  then  quite  grown  boys, 
were  also  loaded  down  with  victuals.  My  mother,  leading 
me  by  the  hand,  superintended  the  distribution.  How  well 
I  recollect  the  soldiers  in  their  light  blue  uniforms,  all  be- 
spattered with  mud,  their  mouths  black  from  biting  cart- 
ridges; and  how  gratefully  they  looked  upon  us,  when  we 


EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  11 

filled  the  glasses  with  wine  or  beer  and  dealt  them  out  nice 
little  white  rolls  (Milchbroedchen)  !  I  was  only  four  years 
old  then;  but  it  appears  to  me  now  as  though  it  was  only  a 
thing  of  yesterday. 

THE  ALLIED   MONARCHS   AND   THEIR   ARMIES   IN   FRANKFORT 

A  few  days  afterwards  I  saw  another  scene  which  made 
a  strong  impression  on  me.  Alexander  of  Russia,  with  his 
brother  Constantine,  made  a  triumphal  entry  into  Frankfort. 
My  father  had  taken  mother  and  my  sisters  Pauline  and 
Augusta,  a  few  years  older  than  myself,  to  the  house  of  a 
friend,  a  book-seller  named  Boselli,  who  lived  on  the  Zeil. 
The  house  was  called  the  Tuerkenschuss,  a  large  wooden  Turk 
with  a  pistol  in  his  hand  being  fastened  to  the  second  story, 
after  the  manner  of  Turks  and  Indians  stuck  up  before  tobacco 
shops.  From  the  window  of  the  second  story  we  saw  every 
thing  most  completely. 

A  regiment  of  Don  Cossacks  of  the  Russian  Guards 
opened  the  procession.  They  looked  splendid  in  their  high 
caps  of  bear  skin  with  richly  embroidered  short  blue  tunics, 
dark  blue  trousers  of  Turkish  fashion,  and  long  lances. 
While  the  ordinary  Cossacks,  and  particularly  what  were 
called  the  irregular  Cossacks,  had  very  small  and  mean-look- 
ing though  hardy  ponies,  the  Cossack  Guard  was  splendidly 
mounted,  the  horses  of  each  regiment  being  of  the  same  color. 
Immediately  after  them  rode  Alexander  and  Constantine  sur- 
rounded by  a  most  splendid  staff,  joined  by  Prince  Schwartz- 
enberg,  the  commander  in  chief  of  the  allied  forces,  who  had 
reached  Frankfort  the  day  before,  also  accompanied  by  a 
large  staff,  the  chief  of  which  was  the  afterwards  celebrated 
Radetzky.  Then  came  a  regiment  of  Tcherkessen  (Circas- 
sians) in  splendid  silver  armor,  curiously  armed,  with  bows 
and  arrows  strapped  to  their  shoulders. 

Many  regiments  of  Prussian  and  Russian  cavalry  fol- 
lowed, and  the  whole  was  concluded  by  mounted  artillery  of 
the  guards.  It  took  an  hour  or  so  before  they  all  passed  before 
us  marching  in  closed  columns  and  taking  the  entire  width  of 


12  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  streets,  leaving  the  sidewalks  only  to  the  spectators.  The 
bands  of  all  these  regiments  were  playing,  but  could  not  be 
heard  for  the  wild  hurrahs  of  the  crowd,  which  went  almost 
crazy  with  enthusiasm.  It  was  a  pageant  never  to  be  for- 
gotten. 

The  King  of  Prussia  and  the  Emperor  of  Austria  fol- 
lowed a  few  days  after  and  also  made  splendid  entries  at  the 
head  of  their  guards,  but  I  have  no  recollection  of  having 
seen  them. 

The  headquarters  of  all  the  monarchs  were  now  estab- 
lished at  Frankfort.  More  than  five  thousand  troops,  mostly 
of  the  guards,  were  quartered  there  and  in  the  villas  and  coun- 
try seats  around  it.  I  recollect  very  well  that  we  had  three 
or  four  soldiers  quartered  at  our  house,  one  of  whom  was  a 
Prussian  regimental  quartermaster  and  the  others  privates. 
Somewhat  later  we  got  Russians,  who  behaved  very  well 
when  sober,  but  acted  like  swine  when  drunk.  When  too 
boisterous,  my  father  would  put  on  his  uniform  and  com- 
mand silence,  when  they  at  once  became  most  submissive  and 
called  him  ' '  Little  Papa ' '  ( Vaeterchen) .  They  all  had  caught 
the  common  words  of  the  language  in  their  long  march  from 
the  Vistula  to  the  Rhine.  They  were  very  fond  of  children 
and  one  thing  happened  to  me,  which  I  do  not  recollect, 
but  was  told  later  on,  showing  their  affection  for  children. 

In  the  Treves  Court,  near  our  house,  a  detachment  of 
Cossacks  was  quartered,  the  warehouses  then  being  used  as 
stables.  As  this  court  was  my  chief  trysting  place  when  I 
was  a  child,  I  was  there  one  day  looking  at  the  Cossacks 
when  one  of  them  took  hold  of  me,  put  me  on  his  shoulder, 
and  went  off  with  me  to  a  tavern  a  good  distance  from  our 
home  and  played  with  me  there  for  hours.  I  was  missed 
after  awhile,  and  my  parents  became  alarmed.  Finally  they 
looked  for  me  in  the  Treves  Court,  and  fortunately  learned 
from  someone,  who  was  a  German,  that  he  had  seen  a  Cos- 
sack with  a  boy  on  his  shoulder  leaving  the  yard  at  its 
southern  entrance.  The  trail  was  pursued  and  I  was  found 
in  the  inn,  quite  at  my  ease,  amongst  a  crowd  of  Cossacks 


EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  13 

and  other  soldiers.  Almost  every  time  I  went  into  that 
Court,  I  got  some  Cossack  to  take  me  upon  his  horse,  or  give 
me  a  ride,  he  leading  his  scraggy  little  pony. 

For  two  months  Frankfort  was  a  most  interesting  place. 
Several  hundred  thousands  of  troops  marched  through  or 
close  by  it  on  their  march  to  the  Rhine.  The  Emperors 
of  Austria,  Russia,  the  Kings  of  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Wuertem- 
berg,  all  the  other  princes  of  Germany  and  nearly  all  their 
crown  princes  were  in  the  city.  With  them  were  Metternich, 
Wolkowsky,  Hardenberg,  Castelreagh,  Nesselrode,  the  great 
German  Baron  Stein,  and  Minister  Humboldt.  There  were 
present  the  most  popular  heroes  of  the  war,  Bluecher,  the 
Generals  Gneisenau,  York,  Field  Marshal  Schwartzenberg, 
Buelow,  Arndt,  the  friend  and  secretary  of  Stein,  the  latter 
being  at  the  time  the  provisional  head  of  all  the  countries 
which  had  belonged  to  the  Confederacy  of  the  Rhine,  and  had 
not  yet  made  separate  treaties  with  the  allied  powers.  All 
these  names  and  many  more  I  must  have  heard  a  thousand 
times  while  the  war  lasted,  until  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  And 
now  I  must  explain  how  it  happened  that  I  was  made  so 
familiar  with  the  events  and  the  names  of  the  principal  actors. 

FAMILY    CONNECTIONS    WITH    FAMOUS    GERMAN    PATRIOTS 

My  father,  as  already  observed,  was  a  most  devoted  Ger- 
man patriot,  although  since  1806  Frankfort  had  been  made 
one  of  the  States  of  the  Rhenish  Confederation,  and  had 
therefore  become  one  of  the  vassal  dependencies  of  France. 
It  was  closely  watched  by  the  French  Minister  to  the  Grand 
Duke,  Prince  Primas,  and  had  generally  French  troops  in 
garrison.  Father  was  always  outspoken  in  his  opposition  to 
the  French  dominion.  Whether  he  had  been  a  member  of  the 
much-famed  Tugendbund  formed  in  Prussia  after  the  Peace 
of  Tilsit  in  1807,  I  never  learned;  but  subsequently  to  the 
retreat  of  Napoleon  from  Russia  my  father  certainly  formed 
connections  with  Prussians  like  Baron  Stein,  Arndt  and 
others. 


14  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

At  any  rate  after  Prussia  had  declared  war  in  March, 
1813,  and  was  joined  by  the  Russians,  he  was  furnished  with 
all  the  appeals  of  the  Prussian  King  calling  his  people  and 
Germany  to  arms;  with  the  proclamation  of  Kutosow  at 
Kalisch  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia;  as  well  as 
with  the  hundreds  of  other  pamphlets  which  were  published 
in  Prussia  urging  the  Germans  to  rise  against  Napoleon,  and 
particularly  with  the  stirring  war  songs  of  Arndt,  Theodore 
Koerner,  Stegmann,  Schenkendorf  and  others.  He  took  pains 
to  distribute  them  in  the  States  of  the  Rhine  Bund  in  the 
rear  of  Napoleon's  armies,  who  were  then  fighting  mighty 
battles  in  Silesia  and  the  other  provinces  of  Prussia.  There 
was  only  one  other  patriotic  bookseller  in  Frankfort,  Eichen- 
berg  by  name,  who  dared  to  act  likewise.  Had  the  battle  of 
Leipsic  been  won  by  Napoleon,  the  fate  of  the  bookseller 
Palm  would  undoubtedly  have  overtaken  my  father. 

When,  therefore,  in  November  and  December,  1813,  the 
patriots  of  Germany  met  in  Frankfort  my  father  was  called 
upon  by  many  of  them.  Arndt  was  a  frequent  visitor  at 
our  house.  He  presented  my  mother  with  a  beautiful  tea 
cup  decorated  with  an  excellent  portrait  of  the  unfortunate 
Louise  of  Prussia,  from  the  celebrated  Berlin  manufactory 
of  porcelain.  On  holidays,  this  cup  always  had  its  place 
on  our  tea-table.  With  Stein  and  Bluecher  father  also  formed 
a  personal  acquaintance.  The  connection  with  Stein  was 
continued  until  my  father's  death  in  1829,  he  having  visited 
that  great  statesman  many  times  at  his  castle  at  Nassau  on 
the  Lahn. 

It  is  well  known  that  during  the  time  spoken  of,  Novem- 
ber and  December,  1813,  there  was  a  deadly  struggle  going 
on  at  Frankfort  between  two  parties:  (1)  the  reactionary 
party  under  the  lead  of  Metternich,  supported  by  nearly  all 
the  German  princes  who  had  belonged  to  the  Confederation 
of  the  Rhine  and  who  owed  their  higher  titles  and  the  in- 
crease of  their  States  to  Napoleon,  which  faction  further  in- 
cluded all  the  aristocrats,  who  had  looked  with  great  dis- 
trust upon  the  popular  uprising  that  had  actually  defeated 


EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  15 

Napoleon;  and  (2)  the  party  composed  of  the  Prussian  states- 
men and  military  leaders  and  of  the  German  patriots  general- 
ly, supported  at  that  time  in  a  measure  by  the  Emperor 
Alexander,  who  was  pleased  to  be  considered  as  favoring  lib- 
eral tendencies. 

We  can  now  hardly  believe  it  possible  that  the  allied 
powers  at  Frankfort  offered  to  make  peace  with  Napoleon, 
leaving  to  France,  as  was  said  in  the  propositions  submitted, 
its  natural  boundaries,  the  Alps,  Pyrennees  and  the  Rhine; 
in  other  words,  leaving  to  France  the  western  side  of  the 
Rhine,  or  what  is  now  Rhenish  Prussia,  Rhenish  Bavaria, 
Rhenish  Hesse,  as  well  as  the  whole  of  Belgium,  —  the  best 
and  choicest  provinces  of  the  ancient  German  Empire. 

Fortunately  Napoleon  was  so  infatuated  as  not  at  once 
to  accept  these  most  favorable  terms.  He  gave  an  evasive 
answer.  In  the  meantime  the  true  German  party  had  become 
aroused.  Bluecher  swore  a  thousand  oaths.  Stein  used  his 
great  influence  over  Alexander.  And  as  Napoleon  had  not 
shown  any  disposition  to  accept  the  conditions  at  once,  the 
friends  of  Germany  succeeded  in  breaking  off  the  negotiations, 
which  was  done  just  a  day  before  Napoleon  offered  to  make 
peace  on  the  basis  first  proposed. 

Bluecher  was  the  hero  of  the  day.  My  father  called  into 
life  the  Bluecher  Club  (Bluecher  Verein),  which  in  a  few 
days  was  joined  by  hundreds  of  the  best  citizens  of  Frank- 
fort, and  soon  extended  to  neighboring  cities.  He  was  made 
its  president.  Its  meetings  were  enthusiastic,  and  it  aroused 
great  opposition  to  Metternich's  policy  and  to  all  reaction- 
ary measures. 

Of  course  I  was  too  young  to  have  any  personal  knowl- 
edge of  all  this,  but  in  the  course  of  years  that  interesting 
period  was  so  often  recalled  in  the  family  and  amongst 
friends,  that  I  could  not  help  but  become  acquainted  with  it 
as  of  things  I  personally  knew.  It  is  not,  therefore,  to  be 
wondered  at  that  having  grown  up  under  such  surroundings, 
I  became  a  warm  lover  of  Germany  and  one  of  the  liberal 
sort. 


16  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

During  the  year  1814  there  was  a  constant  flow  of  troops 
through  Frankfort.  Early  in  the  year  and  spring  they 
moved  westward  into  France.  After  the  taking  of  Paris  and 
the  conclusion  of  peace,  large  parts  of  the  allied  armies  flowed 
backwards  into  Prussia  and  Russia. 

Whenever  troops  were  in  sight  there  was  a  large  white 
flag  hoisted  on  top  of  the  Cathedral  Tower  (Pfarrthurm), 
and  we  boys  would  always  run  into  Main  Street,  the  Zeil,  to 
see  them  pass.  We  did  not  care  much  about  the  infantry,  but 
the  cavalry  and  artillery  were  great  attractions.  That  during 
those  war  times  boys,  small  and  large,  were  playing  at  soldiers 
in  preference  to  any  other  game  was  but  natural.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  great  interest  I  took  in  military  matters 
through  life  was  owing  to  these  early  impressions. 

ANNIVERSARY    OF    THE    BATTLE    OP   LEIPSIC 

The  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Leipsic 
in  1814  was  of  such  an  exciting  character,  that  I  have  a  dis- 
tinct remembrance  of  it.  After  solemn  church-services  in 
the  morning  there  were  parades  of  all  the  battalions  of  the 
civic  guards  (Buergerwehr).  In  the  afternoon  the  children 
of  all  the  schools,  the  boys  with  oak  leaves  on  their  caps,  the 
girls  with  wreaths  of  oak  leaves  in  their  hair,  assembled  on 
the  Roemerberg,  where  speeches  were  made,  and  all  joined 
in  patriotic  songs. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  saw  all  this  then.  But  after  night 
had  set  in,  our  parents  took  us  through  the  principal  streets. 
The  whole  city  was  splendidly  illuminated.  Thousands  of 
transparencies  appeared  on  the  houses,  with  mottoes  in  prose 
and  verse,  and  pictorial  representations. 

The  most  glorious  view,  however,  was  outside  of  the  city- 
gates,  on  the  rising  ground.  On  the  highest  peaks  of  that 
beautiful  range  of  mountains,  the  Taunus,  some  thirty-five 
miles  in  length  and  all  visible  from  high  points  about  the 
city,  eight  miles  distant,  immense  piles  of  cord  wood  had 
been  put  up,  forming  hollow  squares  filled  with  tar  barrels 
and  other  inflammable  materials.  The  largest,  some  fifty  feet 


EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  17 

high,  was  on  the  Feldberg  (3000  feet  in  height).  Other  fires 
were  burning  on  the  Altkoenig,  at  the  castles  of  Koenigstein, 
Cronberg,  Falkenstein,  and  on  the  heights  north  of  Hom- 
burg.  Looking  south,  the  range  of  the  Bergstrasse,  extending 
from  near  Darmstadt  to  Heidelberg,  some  twenty  miles  of 
mountain,  was  also  in  a  blaze.  On  the  highest  point,  the 
Melibocus  (1,600  feet),  there  must  have  been  an  enormous 
pile;  for,  although  distant  from  Frankfort  some  thirty  miles, 
it  was  seen  as  bright  as  the  one  on  the  Feldberg. 

All  the  hills  around  the  city  were  similarly  illuminated. 
Fireworks  let  off  in  the  gardens  around  the  city  made  the 
dark  night  light  as  day.  Bands  played  their  best,  and  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Main  the  artillery  fired  one  hundred 
and  one  salvos.  My  father  carried  me  on  his  shoulders,  and 
I  was  half  frightened,  half  delighted.  The  noise  was  terrific. 

Those  jubilee  fires  extended  throughout  the  whole  of  Ger- 
many that  night. 

THE   TEAR    1815.      BLUECHER 

The  following  year  was  still  a  warlike  one.  Napoleon 
having  returned  from  Elba  in  March,  1815,  the  armies  of 
the  allies,  some  of  them  still  on  their  way  from  France, 
rushed  back  towards  the  Rhine.  Consequently  Frankfort, 
the  great  thoroughfare  for  all  northeastern  Germany  and 
Russia,  again  saw  thousands  of  troops  marching  through  it. 
The  battle  of  Waterloo,  June  18,  ended  the  short  campaign 
and  sent  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena. 

Bluecher  on  his  return,  being  now  more  popular  than 
ever,  stayed  a  few  days  in  Frankfort.  He  took  his  lodgings 
in  the  Weidenbusch  (now  the  Union  Hotel),  a  large  hostelry 
on  the  Steinway,  opposite  the  White  Swan,  another  famed 
hotel.  In  the  night  he  was  serenaded  by  the  drummers  of 
all  the  different  battalions  of  the  civic  guards,  and  by  the 
bands  of  the  line-regiments.  Father  had  secured  for  our 
family  a  front  room  in  the  White  Swan  from  which  we 
could  see  the  immense  crowd,  forming  a  dense  mass  in  the 
street  before  the  hotel.  The  old  hero  stepped  out  on  the 


18  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

balcony,  and  made  a  short,  but  eloquent  speech.  There  were 
hurrahs  and  "vivats"  without  end.  I  had  a  good  look  at  the 
hero,  and,  being  then  six  years  of  age,  I  kept  his  appearance 
very  well  in  my  memory. 

Bluecher  was  a  very  happy  speaker  by  nature,  and  fond 
of  hearing  himself.  It  is  said  he  acquired  much  practice  in 
public  speaking  in  the  Freemasons'  lodges.  He  was  a  zealous 
member  of  this  association.  While  his  orthography,  as  is 
well  known,  was  so  bad  as  to  be  almost  amusing,  he  spoke 
correctly  when  it  suited  him. 

The  next  evening  the  Bluecher  Verein  gave  him  a  ban- 
quet, where  my  father,  being  president,  toasted  him;  and 
Blueeher,  as  father  told  us,  made  a  most  happy  reply,  being 
quite  sarcastic  as  to  the  doings  of  the  diplomats,  whose  len- 
iency towards  the  French  he  denounced  bitterly.  He  was 
also  for  having  Alsace  and  Lorraine  back  again.  Of  this, 
of  course,  I  speak  only  from  hearsay.  This  is  the  last  of 
my  war  reminiscences,  Germany  resting  in  peace  until  1848, 
long  after  I  had  left  it. 


CHAPTER  II 

School  Life 

And  now  my  education  began.  My  oldest  brother 
Charles  had  attended  the  lower  classes  of  the  Frankfort  Col- 
lege (Gymnasium),  where,  as  became  a  city  of  merchants, 
French  and,  in  the  upper  classes,  even  English  were  taught; 
also,  arithmetic,  caligraphy  and  drawing  were  not  neglected. 
Here  he  remained  until  he  became  an  apprentice  in  father's 
business,  afterwards  serving  a  year  or  so  as  clerk  in  a  large 
book-selling  and  publishing  establishment  at  Halle  on  the 
Saale,  and  then  returning  home  to  become  the  principal  clerk 
in  father's  business. 

Frederick  was,  at  this  time  (1815),  in  a  private  school 
of  much  repute  at  Roedelheim,  about  two  miles  from  Frank- 
fort, and  known  as  the  Hoffmann  Institute.  French  and  Eng- 
lish were  taught  thoroughly  there.  Finishing  his  course,  he 
became  apprentice  in  a  large  wholesale  firm,  Behrens  &  Co., 
dealing  in  the  so-called  "colonial  articles."  He  was  very 
bright,  versatile  and  talented,  a  fine  draftsman  and  musician, 
golden-haired  and  blue-eyed,  the  pet  of  everybody,  and  there- 
fore spoiled.  More  of  him  hereafter. 

Charles  was  taller,  had  the  dark  hair  and  eyes  of  father, 
was  of  a  quiet  temper  and  industrious,  perhaps  a  little  too 
unselfish  for  a  business  man,  and  too  liberal  in  his  political 
views  when  the  Reaction  set  in,  as  it  did,  not  very  long  after 
the  War  of  Liberation. 

AT   THE  MUSTERSCHULE 

My  mother  taught  me  to  read  and  spell  when  I  was  about 
five  years  of  age ;  not  at  regular  hours  but  thoroughly  never- 
theless. She  even  gave  me  lessons  in  French,  using  Meidinger 


20  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

for  the  rules  of  grammar.  But  I  learned  more  from  her  talk- 
ing to  me  in  that  language  than  from  the  book.  When  I 
was  about  seven  years  of  age,  I  was  sent  to  the  ' '  Model  School ' ' 
(Musterschule).  This  was  then  a  comparatively  new  institu- 
tion, which  some  wealthy  public  spirited  citizens  had  sub- 
sidized, the  city  furnishing  all  the  grounds  and  buildings, 
and,  I  believe,  guaranteeing  deficits,  but  reserving  to  itself 
the  superintendence,  and,  with  the  sanction  of  the  trustees, 
the  appointment  of  teachers. 

It  was  far  superior  to  the  then  existing  public  and  pri- 
vate schools,  had  seven  classes  for  boys,  and  five  for  girls,  in 
separate  buildings.  The  teaching  was  on  the  Pestalozzi  plan. 
There  was  little  memorizing,  and  the  pupils  had  always  to 
explain  the  "why"  of  things.  Even  in  the  lowest  classes 
there  was  but  little  corporal  punishment.  None  was  permit- 
ted in  the  higher.  You  were  kept  in  school  after  school  hours 
to  learn  the  lessons  you  had  neglected,  or  as  a  penalty  for 
bad  conduct.  But  the  usual  punishment  was  that  during 
play-time  you  had  to  stay  in  the  building.  There  were,  with 
the  director,  some  nine  teachers;  and  in  the  girls'  depart- 
ment, two  women  teachers  to  teach  knitting,  sewing,  embroid- 
ering, and  the  like.  To  have  women  teaching  in  other 
branches  than  these  was  then  considered  absurd ;  and  to  have 
them  instruct  and  watch  boys,  oftentimes  grown  up,  as  in  this 
country,  would  have  been  condemned  as  ridiculous  and  in  the 
highest  degree  indelicate.  Some  of  our  teachers  were  men  of 
great  ability,  such  as  Mr.  Naenny,  a  pupil  of  Pestalozzi,  and 
Mr.  Diesterweg,  who  was  later  on  considered  the  greatest  edu- 
cator in  Germany.  There  were  also  Professor  Mueller,  a  dis- 
tinguished mathematician  and  physicist,  and  Mr.  Du  Veil- 
lard,  a  French  Swiss,  a  severe  and  morose  man,  but  an  excel- 
lent French  teacher. 

I  did  not  know  Mr.  Diesterweg.  He  did  not  teach  then 
in  the  boys'  department.  But  my  sisters,  particularly  Paul- 
ine, were  enthusiastic  in  their  praise  of  him.  They  loved 
him  as  they  would  a  father.  Owing  to  my  ability  to  read 
and  to  cipher  some,  I  went  through  the  lowest  form  in  a 


SCHOOL  LIFE  21 

half  year,  while  the  regular  course  in  every  class  was  one 
year.  I  did  not  reach  the  highest  class,  for  my  parents  had 
destined  me  for  a  liberal  profession,  and  thought  it  was  high 
time  that  I  should  enter  the  gymnasium  or  college.  During  my 
last  year  in  the  Model  School,  I  had  taken  private  lessons  in 
Latin,  so  that  when  I  entered  college,  I  skipped  the  two  lower 
classes  and  was  promoted  within  a  half  year  from  the  fifth 
to  the  fourth  grade,  while  the  regular  term  in  the  lower 
classes  was  one  year,  and  in  the  higher  even  one  year  and  a 
half.  But  even  in  the  second  highest  class  I  got  through  in 
one  year,  instead  of  one  and  one-half.  While  I  was  in  the 
Model  School  nothing  extraordinary  happened  in  my  school 
life.  I  was  not  very  industrious,  but  owing  to  a  quick  percep- 
tion and  a  faculty  of  expressing  what  I  did  know  with  facility, 
I  generally  kept  on  the  front  benches  and  often  at  the  head 
of  them.  Perhaps  it  would  have  been  better,  had  I  been 
obliged  to  study  more  industriously.  I  was  tolerably  wild, 
but  somehow  or  other  my  teachers  were  rather  easy  on  me, 
and  my  schoolmates  liked  me  the  better  for  it. 

MY   READING 

From  an  early  age  I  was  a  great  reader.  In  my  father's 
store  I  found,  of  course,  a  large  collection  of  books,  and  the 
hours  not  given  to  studying  my  lessons  or  to  playing  were 
spent  in  all  sorts  of  miscellaneous  reading;  fairy  tales,  but 
more  so,  travels,  and  later  on  novels.  I  think,  before  I  was 
fourteen  years  of  age,  I  had  read  all  the  novels  of  Cooper 
then  out,  also  of  Walter  Scott.  Washington  Irving  delighted 
me  greatly.  I  had  read  all  the  poetry  of  Schiller  and  his 
dramas,  and  had  learned  by  heart  nearly  all  his  ballads,  re- 
citing them  to  mother  and  my  sisters  in  the  twilight  hours. 
But  not  all  my  early  literature  was  of  this  noble  character. 
The  then  very  popular  romances  of  robbers  and  robber- 
knights  interested  me  also,  as  did  other  sensational  stuff.  I 
do  not  think  the  latter  did  me  any  harm.  I  would  only  read 
those  parts  where  there  were  tournaments,  bouts,  spectres,  and 
the  like.  As  to  love-scenes,  I  felt  no  interest  in  them  then,  and 


22  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

I  skipped  them  invariably.  Sentimentality  was  always  hateful 
to  me,  and  the  only  sentimental  novels  I  liked,  or  yet  like,  were 
Rousseau's  "LaNouvelle  Heloise"  and  "Werther's  Sorrows." 

HOME   LIFE   IN   FRANKFORT 

When  I  was  about  seven  years  of  age  and  while  at  the 
Model  School,  our  family  left  our  home  in  Treves  Square  and 
moved  to  a  very  large  residence  in  Toenges  Street,  a  street 
running  parallel  with  the  Zeil  and  also  with  Treves  Square. 
It  was  but  a  little  distance  from  our  old  home.  There  was 
a  large  inner  court,  bounded  on  the  east  side  by  a  high  wall, 
on  the  south  side  by  the  rear  of  the  front  house,  on  the  north 
side  by  a  roomy  two-story  house,  and  on  the  west  side  by  a 
large  wing  of  the  main  house.  A  passage  in  the  two-story 
house  led  to  a  garden,  about  fifty  by  a  hundred  feet.  There 
were  some  cherry  trees  in  it,  a  piece  of  lawn  on  which  stood 
a  high  substantial  swing,  a  long  middle  walk  over  which  trellis 
work  was  built,  supporting  grape  vines.  Yard,  garden,  and 
the  many  unused  rooms  in  the  rear  house  furnished  most  ex- 
cellent playground,  and  my  school  fellows  found  it  convenient 
to  pay  me  frequent  visits. 

We  lived  there  four  years  when  father  bought  a  house 
on  what  is  called  the  Neue  Kraeme.  This  was  an  elegant 
and  lively  street,  extending  from  a  tolerably  large  square  with 
a  fountain  in  it,  called  the  "Mount  of  our  Dear  Lady" 
(Liebfrauenberg),  and  having  on  the  north  the  Catholic 
Church  of  Our  Dear  Lady,  to  the  Roemerberg  on  which  the 
old  Rathhaus  or  Council  House  of  Frankfort  stands.  That 
square  had  also  a  fountain  in  it,  with  a  battered  old  statue 
of  Justice  with  scales  in  one  hand  and  a  sword  in  the  other, 
very  much  the  worse  for  wear. 

Our  residence  was  only  one  house  removed  from  the  large 
and  splendid  building  called  the  Braunfels,  which  occupied 
a  block  by  itself,  contained  large  halls  and  extensive  galler- 
ies, in  which  during  the  Frankfort  fair  the  merchants  who 
dealt  in  the  most  expensive  and  showy  goods  had  their  stores. 
Here  were  the  silversmiths'  and  jewelers'  goods,  glass  and 


SCHOOL  LIFE  23 

porcelain,  prints  and  engravings,  perfumeries,  and  the  choic- 
est of  dry  goods.  In  coronation  times  it  had  been  occupied 
by  the  Electors  and  other  Princes  of  the  Empire.  In  the 
large  courtyard  and  the  adjoining  corridors  the  Exchange 
(Boerse)  was  held  every  week-day  from  eleven  to  one  o'clock. 
The  Braunfels  fronted  partly  on  the  Liebfrauen  square.  The 
Roemerberg,  at  the  time  of  the  fair,  was  covered  with  booths, 
in  which  all  kinds  of  goods  were  on  sale;  while  the  immense 
halls  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  Council  House  were  also  used 
as  shops. 

On  fine  days,  in  fair  time,  the  Neue  Kraeme  was  so  filled 
with  people  that  you  could  not  throw  a  cherry  stone  into 
the  streets  without  hitting  somebody.  The  boulevards  in 
Paris  or  Broadway  in  New  York,  as  far  as  crowding  was  con- 
cerned, were,  in  my  time,  not  to  be  compared  with  it.  Car- 
riages had  often  to  turn  into  other  streets.  All  vehicles  had 
to  proceed  in  a  walk.  All  processions  and  military  parades, 
since  they  always  had  to  go  to  the  old  Council  House,  passed 
our  windows.  In  fact,  it  was  for  people  who  do  not  love 
retirement,  a  most  desirable  street  to  live  in.  It  had  the 
further  advantage,  that  my  college  was  only  two  blocks  away, 
on  the  Barfuessler  Platz  (Place  of  the  Barefooted  Friars), 
now  the  Paul's  Platz.  Our  house  was  four  stories  high  and 
had  a  mansard  roof,  under  which  there  were  three  or  four 
rooms.  It  had  no  garden,  but  two  small  inner  courts,  and  so 
great  was  the  space  that  the  third  floor  was  always  rented. 

After  I  went  to  college  our  domestic  life  was  in  the  main 
that  of  the  citizens  of  Frankfort  generally.  It  must  be  under- 
stood that  to  have  been  a  citizen  of  Frankfort  meant  a  good 
deal  more  than  is  ordinarily  understood  by  the  word  "citi- 
zen." By  the  acts  of  the  Vienna  Congress,  Frankfort,  Ham- 
burg, Luebeck  and  Bremen  were  declared  to  be  free  and  in- 
dependent States;  while  formerly,  until  the  establishment  of 
the  Rhenish  Confederation,  they  had  been  free  and  Imperial 
cities  only:  that  is,  they  were  not  subject  to  any  territorial 
Prince,  but  yet  to  a  certain,  though  very  small  extent,  they 
were  subject  to  the  central  power  of  the  Emperor  and  the 


24  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Imperial  laws.  The  citizens  of  these  Imperial  cities,  even  then 
very  proud,  had  their  representatives  at  the  Imperial  Diet. 
Now  they  felt  themselves  still  more  exalted.  And  this  citizen- 
ship, moreover,  was  a  sort  of  closed  corporation.  No  one 
could  become  a  citizen  and  an  elector  and  so  eligible  to  office, 
unless  he  was  the  son  of  a  citizen,  or  unless  he  had  married 
the  widow  or  the  daughter  of  a  citizen,  and  in  the  latter 
case  he  had  to  pay  a  large  sum  in  addition  in  order  to  enter 
the  corporation.  A  large  majority  of  the  inhabitants  were 
not  citizens,  and  had  no  political  rights.  There  were  amongst 
the  citizens  proper,  very  few  poor  people.  Most  of  them 
were  in  very  easy  circumstances,  and  a  good  many  of  them 
were  not  only  rich  but  possessors  of  very  large  fortunes.  I 
speak  now  of  the  time  when  I  was  at  school,  in  college,  and  up 
to  the  time  of  my  confirmation,  which  happened  when  I  was 
about  sixteen  years  of  age  (1824). 

RELIGIOUS  TRAINING.      FAMILY  PORTRAITS 

My  father,  although,  like  my  mother,  baptized  and  edu- 
cated in  the  Lutheran  creed,  had,  I  have  reason  to  believe, 
very  free  and  liberal  religious  ideas.  He  seldom  went  to 
church,  but  approved  of  my  mother  and  the  children  going 
pretty  regularly.  He  never  said  a  word  against  religion,  but 
was  very  much  opposed  to  dogmatism  and  particularly  mys- 
ticism and  pietism.  So  was  my  mother.  She  was  a  very  relig- 
ious woman.  Every  Sunday  morning,  before  church-hours, 
my  sisters  and  myself,  when  we  were  children,  came  to  her 
bedroom,  where  she  would  read  a  chapter  from  some  work  of 
edification,  usually  from  the  then  much  admired  "Hours  of 
Devotion"  by  Zschokke.  She  would  herself  go  to  church  oc- 
casionally; but  my  sisters  and  I,  after  I  had  arrived  at  the 
age  of  ten  or  twelve  years,  went  pretty  regularly,  and  gener- 
ally to  the  large  Lutheran  Church  of  St.  Katherine  's  on  Main 
Street,  the  pastor  of  which  was  Anton  Kirchner. 

Kirchner  was  a  very  distinguished  man  in  Frankfort. 
An  impressive,  but  by  no  means  sensational  preacher,  he  was 
a  man  of  learning,  a  public-spirited  citizen,  and  a  warm  Ger- 


SCHOOL  LIFE  25 

man  patriot.  He  was  the  author  of  a  well-written  history  of 
Frankfort,  which,  however,  he  did  not  live  to  complete.  He 
had  written,  also,  some  theological  works,  in  a  most  rational 
and  liberal  spirit.  Whenever  there  was  any  benevolent  work 
to  be  done,  he  was  at  the  head  of  it.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Frankfort  Museum,  an  association  for  the  en- 
couragement of  literature  and  the  fine  arts,  where  regular  lec- 
tures were  delivered.  He  moved  in  the  highest  official  circles, 
though  at  the  same  time  a  great  friend  of  the  poor  and  lowly. 
No  one  in  his  time  was  better  known  in  the  city,  then  compar- 
atively small,  containing  no  more  than  45,000  inhabitants. 
I  believe  every  man,  woman  and  child  knew  him.  He  had  a 
great  likeness  to  Luther,  and  was  even  more  corpulent  than 
that  great  reformer.  My  father  was  a  friend  of  his.  Kirch- 
ner  had  baptized  and  confirmed  all  the  younger  children. 
But  we  did  not  confine  ourselves  to  one  church.  In  the  winter 
we  often  went  to  the  German  Reformed  Church,  which  was 
far  more  comfortable  at  this  season  of  the  year  than  the 
larger  Protestant  Church.  Occasionally  I  went  to  the  French 
Reformed  Church,  or  rather  chapel,  fronting  the  city  park 
(Stadt-Allee),  where  there  were  very  able  ministers,  preaching 
in  the  purest  French.  After  my  confirmation,  in  1824, 1  think, 
and  until  I  left  for  the  University,  I  did  not  go  to  church 
often. 

Speaking  of  confirmation,  I  cannot  but  mention  an  in- 
cident happening  when  my  sister  Pauline,  who  was  about  four 
years  older  than  myself,  was  confirmed.  The  custom  is,  or 
was  at  that  time,  that  the  pupils  to  be  confirmed  or  conse- 
crated should  approach  the  altar  in  pairs,  and  that  generally 
only  those  who  were  intimate  friends  should  go  together.  My 
sister  had  already  become  engaged  as  a  partner  to  a  school- 
mate of  hers,  a  young  lady  of  a  family  of  high  standing. 
Previously  to  the  confirmation,  for  some  three  months,  the 
pastors  of  the  respective  churches  to  which  the  candidates  be- 
longed formed  a  class,  where  once  or  twice  a  week  religious 
instruction  was  given  preparatory  to  the  consecration.  In 
the  class  with  Pauline  was  a  beautiful  girl,  Miss  U.,  the 


26  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

daughter  of  two  members  of  the  troupe  of  the  Frankfort  City 
Theatre.  These  people,  who  had  been  connected  with  that 
institution  for  years,  were,  though  not  great  actors,  people 
of  the  most  respectable  character.  Miss  U.  herself  had  played 
occasionally  in  juvenile  parts,  and  became  afterwards  a  reg- 
ular actress,  very  much  admired  for  her  uncommon  beauty 
and  maiden-like  modesty.  A  few  days  before  confirmation 
day,  it  became  known  in  the  class  that  Miss  U.  could  find  no 
partner.  The  girls  all  liked  her,  but  their  parents,  and  they 
themselves,  were  so  prejudiced  that  none  would  walk  with  her 
to  the  altar.  Pauline,  with  the  full  consent  of  father,  and 
with  but  a  shade  of  reluctance  on  the  part  of  her  mother,  dis- 
engaged herself  in  becoming  manner  from  her  chosen  part- 
ner and  went  with  Miss  U.,  whose  heart  had  almost  been 
broken  by  the  disdain  she  had  met  with  from  the  other  girls. 
Pauline  had  never  known  Miss  U.  before  she  met  her  in  the 
confirmation  class.  But  it  was  a  charming  sight  to  see  the 
pair  walk  up  to  the  altar.  Miss  U.  was  of  surpassing  beauty, 
with  rich  dark  hair,  blue  eyes,  a  perfect  form,  and  full  of 
grace.  Pauline  was  considered  a  very  beautiful  girl.  Her 
hair  was  very  long  and  of  a  golden  blonde;  she  had  large 
dark  blue  eyes,  and  a  beautiful  complexion.  She  was  not  so 
tall  as  Miss  U.,  but  was  equally  well  formed.  A  life-size 
picture  by  a  then  celebrated  portrait  painter,  Mosbrucker  of 
Constance,  still  in  my  possession,  will  show  that  I  have  not 
been  partial  in  speaking  of  Pauline.  The  same  painter  made 
a  small  portrait  of  my  mother,  which  is  really  a  masterpiece. 
Speaking  of  Mosbrucker,  I  have  another  portrait  of  his 
in  my  possession,  —  the  portrait  of  Karl  Ludwig  Sand,  the 
student  of  Jena,  who  in  1819  assassinated  the  Russian  Coun- 
cilor of  State,  Von  Kotzebue.  He  was  actuated,  as  he 
thought,  by  the  purest  motives;  and  indeed  he  was  a  young 
man  of  unstained  character  and  of  the  austerest  morality. 
After  his  fanatical  deed  he  inflicted  upon  himself  a  mortal 
wound  but  lived  to  be  tried  for  murder  and  was  executed  at 
Mannheim.  Mosbrucker  painted  this  portrait  in  prison  for 
Sand's  mother  and  duplicated  it  for  himself.  Shortly  after- 


SCHOOL  LIFE  27 

wards  he  took  up  his  usual  abode  at  our  house,  painting  por- 
traits for  Frankfort  people;  and,  finding  that  father,  though 
not  approving  of  Sand 's  action,  had  the  deepest  sympathy  for 
the  young  man,  (who  imagined  he  had  done  a  patriotic  deed 
in  destroying  a  man  whose  whole  life  had  been  employed  to 
demoralize  the  public  and  who  had  acted  a  traitor  to  his 
country  in  denouncing  the  German  Universities  to  the  Czar 
of  Russia  as  the  instigators  of  revolution,)  Mosbrucker  made 
my  father  a  present  of  the  portrait.  It  is  more  like  the  por- 
trait of  a  girl  than  of  a  man.  The  forehead  is  broad,  but 
not  very  high ;  the  eyes  are  deep  brown  and  show  a  brilliancy 
produced  probably  by  the  sickly  pallor  of  the  cheeks.  The 
mouth  is  very  beautiful  and  small,  the  face  itself  rather  round 
than  oval  and  encircled  by  dark  brown  hair  coming  down  in 
curls  to  his  shoulders.  While  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  face 
is  very  handsome,  yet  it  is  certainly  a  very  interesting  one. 
He  bore  his  painful  lingering  illness  with  the  submission  of 
a  saint,  never  complaining;  and  when  he  was  led  out  to  the 
scaffold,  all  the  prison  officials  wept  and  the  prisoners  in  their 
cells  cried  like  children.  The  executioner,  the  judges,  the 
ministers  who  called  upon  him,  all  broke  out  in  tears ;  he  alone 
was  most  serene,  thanked  them  all  for  their  sympathy,  and 
even,  by  way  of  anticipation,  thanked  the  executioner;  for, 
said  he,  "After  you  have  done  the  work  which  you  hate  so 
much  to  do,  I  could  not  thank  you." 

A  portrait  of  my  father  by  a  painter  of  local  reputation, 
Mr.  Schlesinger,  is  by  no  means  so  well  painted,  but  a  re- 
markable likeness.  Sister  Augusta,  five  years  younger  than 
Pauline,  was  also  a  most  beautiful  child,  with  auburn  hair 
reaching  to  her  knees,  and  dark  blue  eyes.  Unfortunately, 
she  was  quite  early  stricken  with  disease,  and  became  an  in- 
valid all  her  life;  though,  for  that  very  reason,  more  dearly 
beloved  by  us.  Her  condition,  however,  which  excluded  her 
from  many  youthful  enjoyments,  cast  a  constant  gloom  over 
our  family  life.  The  later  years  of  her  life  were  spent  at 
Wiesbaden  with  mother,  using  the  waters,  though  with  little 


28      MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

effect.     She  died  there  some  time  in  1837  or  1838.     She  was 
a  woman  of  superior  mind. 

I  must  now  mention  another  brother,  who  was  seven 
years  younger  than  I,  and  who  was  born  in  the  house  on  the 
Treves  Square.  He  was  named  Theodore,  after  the  hero  and 
poet  Theodore  Koerner  of  the  Luetzow  Corps,  who  fell  in  the 
battle  of  August  26,  1813.  He  was  a  most  lovely  child,  with 
blue  eyes  and  light  hair,  and  highly  intellectual,  —  too  much 
so  to  promise  a  long  life.  I  doted  on  him,  and  when  he 
died  in  1826,  about  9  years  old,  from  a  cold  he  took  at  a  May 
festival,  it  gave  the  first  pang  to  my  young  heart,  and  one 
which  I  have  not  overcome  to  this  day. 

AT  COLLEGE 

At  the  gymnasium  or  college  I  got  along  very  well,  and 
formed  friendships  there  that  have  lasted  in  some  instances 
until  now.  Most  of  my  classmates  and  fellow-students  at  the 
University  have,  —  some  long  since,  and  some  but  lately,  — 
gone  to  the  land  from  which  no  traveler  returns.  The  in- 
stitution itself  was  at  the  time  I  attended  it,  not  what  it 
ought  to  have  been.  The  director  was  not,  though  he  pre- 
tended to  be,  a  profound  scholar.  Besides,  he  was  a  bigoted 
devotee,  and  given  to  mysticism.  Neither  teachers  nor  scholars 
liked  him.  The  lower  classes  had  only  teachers  of  mediocrity. 
In  the  higher  classes  there  were  some  stars,  such  as  Professor 
Conrad  Schwenk,  a  deep  thinker,  a  good  philologist,  and  in 
every  way  a  complete  man.  Professor  Herling  was  a  good 
mathematician  and  a  master  of  German  style.  Professor 
Weber  was  an  elegant  scholar,  and  almost  the  only  one  who 
could  make  the  reading  of  Cicero  and  particularly  Horace, 
interesting  to  us.  He  tortured  us,  however,  a  good  deal  by 
dictating  to  us  long  essays  in  German  on  Roman  history, 
which  we  were  to  translate  into  Latin  at  home.  He  wanted  us 
to  become  elegant  writers  in  Latin.  I  do  not  think  he  suc- 
ceeded, at  least  he  did  not  with  me ;  for  when  it  came  to  writ- 
ting  two  Latin  dissertations  in  1832,  when  I  was  a  candidate 
for  doctor  of  law  at  the  University  of  Heidelberg,  one  on  a 


SCHOOL  LIFE  29 

controverted  point  in  the  Pandects,  and  the  other  on  an  equal- 
ly controverted  point  in  the  canon  law,  I  had  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.  I  had  to  call  in  my  amiable  friend  Feddersen  (from 
Holstein)  a  student  of  philosophy  and  philology,  to  give  them 
a  sort  of  Ciceronian  finish.  How  I  got  through  the  oral  ex- 
amination in  Latin  so  well,  I  did  not  then  understand  nor  do 
I  now.  As  long  as  the  dean  of  the  faculty,  the  celebrated 
Professor  Thibaut,  examined  me  in  the  Pandects,  the  matter 
was  not  so  difficult,  because  I  had  read  and  studied  them  in 
Latin;  but  when  Professor  Mittermeier  took  me  through  the 
German  civil  and  mercantile  law  and  Professor  Rosshirt 
through  the  German  criminal  law  and  criminal  procedure, 
and  Professor  Zachariae  made  me  tell  what  I  knew  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  law  of  the  old  German  Empire,  I  was  several  times 
rather  nonplussed.  Still  I  got,  though  not  the  highest,  yet  the 
next  highest  honors,  "Insigni  cum  laude,"  which  was  a  suc- 
cess considering  that  I  had  spent  only  the  last  semester  of 
my  University  life  in  Heidelberg,  and  that  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Mittermeier,  I  had  not  attended  the  lectures  of  any 
of  the  examining  professors.  The  University  of  Heidelberg 
on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  my  doctorate  made  a  very  curi- 
ous mistake.  In  their  letter  of  congratulation,  they  said  that  I 
had  obtained  the  highest  grade,  "summa  cum  laude,"  which 
is  hardly  ever  given.  My  diploma  shows  their  error.  The 
grades  at  Heidelberg  were:  "Summa  cum  laude,"  "insigni 
cum  laude,"  "maxima  cum  laude,"  "magna  cum  laude,"  and 
"cum  laude,"  which  last  grade  we  used  to  call  "feliciter 
evasit"  —  "he  has  by  luck  escaped  non-admittance." 

Our  other  professors  in  Greek  and  Latin  were  mere 
pedants.  If  they  had  been  teachers  of  a  theological  or  philo- 
logical seminary,  they  might  have  been  in  their  right  places; 
but  four-fifths  of  us  were  destined  for  the  bar  or  for  the  med- 
ical profession,  and  wanted  to  get  to  the  very  soul  of  ancient 
literature  simply  by  reading  much  and  having  our  minds 
directed  to  the  beauties  of  the  old  authors.  In  the  highest 
classes  it  took  just  one-half  year  to  go  through  one  book  of 
the  Aeneid,  and  equally  long  for  one  of  Homer.  We  had 


learned  dissertations  on  the  caesura,  and  on  the  Greek  par- 
ticles and  accents.  It  took  us  the  same  time  to  read  a  single 
oration  of  Demosthenes ;  and  as  if  it  had  not  been  a  sufficiently 
severe  test  to  translate  it  into  German,  we  had  in  addition 
to  translate  it  into  Latin,  while  during  the  whole  hour  noth- 
ing but  Latin  was  allowed  to  be  spoken. 

The  French  language  was  not  well  taught  at  college, 
owing  probably  to  the  fact  that  lessons  had  to  be  given  to 
several  classes  at  once,  so  that  there  were  by  far  too  many 
scholars.  English  was  taught  only  in  the  highest  class 
(Prima)  ;  and  since  it,  like  French,  was  an  optional  study, 
our  class  did  not  have  more  than  a  dozen  in  it.  The  teacher, 
Mr.  Will,  was  able,  and  we  got  pretty  deeply  into  the  beau- 
ties of  Addison,  Steele  and  Burke.  I  did  not  read  Shakes- 
peare in  English  until  I  was  at  the  University  of  Jena,  where 
fellow-students  from  Hamburg,  Luebeck  and  other  northern 
states,  formed  a  Shakespeare  Club,  of  which  I  was  a  member. 

HENRY  HOFFMANN  AND  "  STRUWWELPETER  " 

Almost  all  my  schoolmates  in  the  higher  classes  of  the 
Frankfort  gymnasium  became  men  of  distinction  and  high 
repute  in  the  Frankfort  commonwealth,  serving  as  burgo- 
masters, senators,  and  filling  judges'  seats  or  holding  high 
positions  as  lawyers  or  physicians.  One  of  them,  however, 
and  he  happened  to  be  my  most  intimate  friend,  Dr.  Henry 
Hoffmann,  attained  a  national,  or  rather  an  international,  rep- 
utation. He  was  the  author  of  "  Struwwelpeter, "  both  text 
and  pictures,  —  a  little  juvenile  book,  which  has  reached  num- 
berless editions,  and  has  been  translated  into  all  known  lan- 
guages. I  believe,  and  I  have  no  doubt,  that  in  the  United 
States  alone,  from  first  to  last,  more  than  one  hundred  thou- 
sand copies  have  been  sold.  He  told  me,  in  1862,  that  he  had 
prepared  this  little  book  solely  for  his  own  children's  amuse- 
ment and  instruction,  without  the  least  idea  of  ever  publish- 
ing it.  But  the  children  showed  it  to  their  friends,  and  it 


SCHOOL  LIFE  31 

came  to  be  read  by  their  parents,  some  of  whom  insisted  that 
it  should  be  printed.  He  finally  consented,  thinking  it  would 
be  bought  in  Frankfort  as  a  Christmas  gift  for  children  for 
the  current  year,  and  would  then  be  forgotten.  Nobody  was 
more  surprised  at  its  immense  circulation  than  he  himself. 
He  at  first  disliked  the  noise  made  about  it.  He  had  gained 
some  reputation  as  a  serious  poet,  and  still  more  as  a  success- 
ful and  learned  physician,  which  he  did  not  desire  to  be  over- 
shadowed by  this  little  humorous  performance,  which  was 
the  child  of  a  few  days  only. 

I  said  that  Hoffmiann  was  a  real  poet.  A  collection  of  his 
poems  saw  several  editions,  a  rather  rare  thing  in  Germany. 
But  on  several  occasions,  such  as  the  Mozart  jubilee  and  the 
Goethe  centennial  anniversary,  he  wrote  odes  and  songs,  which 
are  in  my  possession  and  are  of  much  merit.  In  1848  a  ban- 
quet was  given  to  the  popular  poet,  Anastasius  Gruen  (Count 
Alexander  von  Auersberg),  a  liberal  delegate  to  the  German 
Parliament.  The  song  for  this  occasion  by  Henry  Hoffmann 
was  most  enthusiastically  received.  I  will  give  the  first 
strophe : 

"Horch  auf,  mein  Volk!  ob  deutschen  Landen 

Geht  brausend  jetzt  ein  Sturm  empor, 
Hoch  weht  dein  Banner,  frei  von  Banden, 
Und  beugen  soil's  der  Sturm  nicht  mehr! 
Treu  Hand  in  Hand, 
Fest  Mann  an  Mann, 
Mein  Vaterland. 
Dein  Tag  bricht'an!" 

This  was  the  time  of  a  golden  dream  of  a  great  and 
united  Germany,  for  which  he  and  I  had  fondly  hoped  when 
at  college,  and  which  so  soon  turned  out  an  illusion.  He 
had  soon  to  sing  his  bitter  disappointment.  The  imperial 
crown  offered  by  the  Parliament  to  Frederick  William  IV  of 
Prussia  was  by  him  refused,  because,  as  was  said,  the  crown 
had  been  rubbed  with  too  many  drops  of  democratic  oil. 
This  rejection  drew  from  Hoffmann  the  following  lines : 


32  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

' '  Du,  Koenig,  hast 's  verschmaeht !  Du  wagst  es  nicht ! 
Du  willst  nicht  her  zum  freien  Volke ! 
Wohlan!  So  zaudre  bis  das  Wetter  bricht 
Verderblich  aus  der  finstern  Wolke. 
Wann  dann  du  ruf st  '  Heran,  mein  Volk,  zu  mir ! ' 
Dann  wird  das  Volk  sich  auch  bedenken, 
'  Wir  sind  getrennt :  Du  dort,  wir  stehen  hier, — 
Wir  haben  kerne  Krone  zu  verschenken. '  : 

I  think  I  can  claim  some  trifling  credit  for  the  develop- 
ment of  Hoffmann 's  poetical  talents.  My  father  had  a  poetical 
vein.  After  his  death  a  package  was  found,  in  which  were 
a  small  number  of  songs,  all  printed  on  separate  slips.  Some 
were  written  toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  in  the 
then  highly  sentimental  style;  others,  at  a  later  period,  were 
of  a  patriotic  character,  and,  it  appears,  were  written  for  the 
meetings  or  festivities  of  the  Bluecher  Union. 

EARLY  POETICAL  EFFORTS 

When  I  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age  I  spent  some 
time  at  Kreuznach,  among  intimate  friends  of  my  parents. 
With  some  of  their  sons  I  made  excursions  into  the  neigh- 
borhood, which  is  full  of  the  finest  and  most  romantic  scen- 
ery. We  visited  the  Rheingrafenstein,  in  the  beautiful  val- 
ley of  the  Nahe,  called  Miinster  Thai,  Franz  Von  Sickingen's 
Ebernburg,  the  castle  of  Dhaun,  of  Sponheim,  and  other  old 
historic  ruins.  It  was  then  that  I  first  tried  my  hand  at  poetry. 
I  wrote  half  a  dozen  epigrams  on  those  grand  relics  of  an- 
cient  times,  some  of  which  are  still  extant  in  a  manuscript 
collection  of  my  poetical  sins. 

When  in  Prima  (the  highest  class),  towards  the  end  of 
my  stay  at  college,  I  fell  most  desperately  in  love  with  the 
sister  of  one  of  my  friends.  She  was  a  year  or  two  older 
than  I,  and,  as  I  soon  learned,  already  engaged  to  the  son  of 
a  very  prominent  merchant.  That  made,  however,  no  dif- 
ference to  me.  Of  course,  she  knew  nothing  of  my  passion. 
I  saw  her  at  her  home  a  few  times,  when  I  called  upon  my 
friend  and  classmate ;  but  of  course,  never  alone,  for  in  Ger- 


SCHOOL  LIFE  33 

many  no  young  gentleman  was  allowed  to  call  on  a  lady,  and 
no  young  lady  permitted  to  receive  the  visit  of  a  young  man 
except  in  the  presence  of  her  parents  or  older  members  of  the 
family.  At  any  rate  this  was  so  at  the  time  I  speak  of.  But 
I  was  in  ecstacy  when  lucky  enough  to  see  her  in  the  public 
promenades  or  in  the  street.  I  would,  at  a  respectful  dis- 
tance, follow  her  steps.  She  was  of  surpassing  beauty,  had 
dark  hair,  and  her  eyes  were  of  the  most  brilliant  black. 
When  much  later  I  read  Platen's  poems,  I  was  always  re- 
minded of  her  by  the  lines. 

"Der  schwarzen  Augen,  die  mir  Sterne  deuchten, 
Geheimnissvolles,  dunkel  gluehendes  Leuchten." 

Her  figure  was  rather  small,  but  exquisitely  formed.  That 
I  do  not  flatter  Lina,  will  appear  from  a  passage  in  a  letter 
from  my  sister  Pauline,  which  I  received  in  June,  1830. 
"When  I  was  the  last  time  at  the  museum  with  Charles," 
she  writes,  he  being  a  member  of  that  society,  ' '  I  saw  Mrs.  K. 
(Lina),  who  greeted  me  most  kindly  and  addressed  me.  But 
oh,  what  a  rare  beauty,  what  loveliness!  You  were  no  fool. 
I  had  not  seen  her  for  a  long  time  and  I  was  really  astound- 
ed."  But  how  did  she  ever  know  of  my  passion  for  Lina? 
No  one  but  Hoffmann  knew  of  it  and  he  only  because  he  had 
confided  to  me  his  love  for  one  Jenny.  He  must  have  be- 
trayed me  after  I  had  left  for  Jena.  We  corresponded;  I 
enclosed  my  letters  to  him  in  those  I  wrote  to  my  family ;  and 
he  his  in  those  of  Charles  or  Pauline.  In  the  very  letter  in 
which  the  above  lines  about  Lina  are  found,  came  one  from 
him  in  which  he  very  humorously  informed  me  of  the  mar- 
riage of  Lina  to  Mr.  K.,  leaving  a  blank  space  to  be  filled,  as 
he  said,  with  curses  damnation-deep.  I  am  almost  certain  that 
he  then  spoke  to  Pauline  about  this,  my  first  love-matter. 

Now,  Hoffmann  was  then  my  nearest  neighbor  on  the 
school  bench,  and  I  believe  he  alone  knew  of  my  admiration 
for  Lina.  One  time  during  a  lesson  which  did  not  interest 
me,  I  wrote  an  epigram,  or  rather  an  anagram,  on  my  love, 


34 

the  initial  letters  of  each  line  forming  her  given  name.  I 
showed  it  to  him.  "Well,"  said  he,  "that  is  not  so  very  bad, 
but  I  think  I  can  beat  it. ' '  After  a  little  he  showed  a  scrap 
of  paper  to  me  on  which  was  written  the  same  anagram, 
much  superior  to  mine. 

We  both  felt  interested,  and  pursued  poetry,  composing 
it  in  our  school  hours.  He  was  a  splendid  draftsman,  and 
generally  enlivened  his  little  pieces  with  some  arabesque  or 
small  figures.  His  caricatures  were  really  very  good.  The 
same  winter  he  and  I  started  a  reading  club.  We  met  at  my 
father's  house,  it  being  the  central  part  of  the  city.  We  com- 
menced with  Goethe's  and  Schiller's  dramas,  the  different 
parts  being  assigned  by  the  president  for  the  members  to 
read.  We  soon  got  into  Shakespeare,  so  beautifully  trans- 
lated by  A.  W.  Von  Schlegel.  Hoffmann  read  Falstaff  to  per- 
fection. In  speaking  of  my  early  travels,  I  will  have  to  say 
more  of  him.  At  the  University,  we  did  not  meet.  I  went 
to  Jena,  Munich  and  Heidelberg.  But  when  I  came  to  the 
latter  place,  he  had  left  it  and  gone  either  to  Berlin  or 
Wuerzburg.  When  I  passed  a  year  in  Frankfort  after  leav- 
ing Heidelberg,  he  had  not  yet  returned ;  and  I  met  him  only 
in  1862,  on  my  way  through  Frankfort  to  Madrid,  when  we 
at  once  renewed  our  former  friendship. 

A  year  or  two  before  Hoffmann  and  myself  idled  away  our 
time  in  rhyming,  I  had  made  an  effort  at  writing  a  drama. 
This  was  really  audacious  in  a  boy  of  fifteen  or  sixteen.  It 
was  commencing  at  the  wrong  end.  Walter  Scott  was  then 
all  the  rage  and  amongst  all  his  novels  it  was  the  "Bride  of 
Lammermoor"  that  struck  me  as  lending  itself  best  to 
dramatization.  I  planned  the  whole  piece  and  sketched  it  on 
paper.  It  was  to  have  three  acts.  The  first  act  I  nearly 
finished;  but  becoming  aware  of  my  poetical  inability,  and 
also  having  little  time,  I  gave  it  up.  It  was  written  in 
the  trochaic  measure,  which  was  then  all  the  fashion,  in- 
troduced by  the  translations  of  Calderon,  and  adopted  by 
Muellner  in  his  "Schuld"  and  Grillparzer  in  his  "Ahnfrau," 


SCHOOL  LIFE  35 

then  a  much  admired  tragedy  which  I  had  seen  at  the 
Frankfort  Theatre.  I  gave  the  manuscript  of  my  first  act 
to  my  father,  who  kept  it,  but  gave  no  opinion  of  it. 
One  thing,  however,  is  certain.  I  had  intuitively  found 
out  the  dramatic  power  of  the  novel.  Some  of  Walter  Scott's 
novels  have  been  dramatized,  such  as  Kenilworth,  Guy  Man- 
nering,  and  Ivanhoe  (Templar  and  Jewess),  but  they  have 
been  more  or  less  failures;  while  Donizetti's  "Lucia  di  Lam- 
mermoor"  has  gone  around  the  world,  and  is  still  one  of  the 
most  popular  operas. 

VON  LEONHARDI 

I  must  mention,  however,  another  of  my  college  class- 
mates, Von  Leonhardi,  who  made  himself  a  name  in  Germany 
as  the  enthusiastic  follower  and  expounder  of  the  philosopher 
Krauss.  This  somewhat  abstruse  thinker,  for  some  reason  or 
other,  found  more  adherents  in  Italy,  and  particularly  in 
Spain,  than  in  Germany  itself.  Emilio  Castelar,  who  was  well 
versed  in  German  philosophical  literature,  (he  delivered  free 
lectures  at  the  Madrid  Athenaeum,  the  first  winter  I  was  there, 
on  Schiller  and  Goethe,)  was  a  great  admirer  of  Krauss,  and 
by  his  influence  as  professor  of  history  at  the  University  of 
Madrid,  had  indoctrinated  not  only  the  students,  but  also 
many  literary  men  in  Spain,  with  Krauss 's  ideas.  Krauss 
was  also  a  great  authority  in  Italy.  Perhaps  his  being  a  free- 
mason and  his  having  published  several  scientific  works  on 
freemasonry,  may  account  for  this  popularity  in  countries 
where  freemasonry  was  cultivated  as  a  bulwark  against  Ultra- 
montanism  and  despotism  generally. 

Leonhardi  sat  with  me  on  the  same  bench  in  Secunda 
(second  highest  class),  and  became  the  principal  in  a  scene 
which  I  can  never  forget.  The  director  of  the  college,  of  whom 
I  have  already  spoken  as  a  zealous  orthodox  pietist,  gave  two 
lectures  a  week  on  religion.  His  lectures  were  mainly  ex- 
cerpts from  the  old  fathers  of  the  Church,  Origines,  Tertul- 
lian,  and  others,  and  were  devoid  of  taste  and  reason.  At  one 


36      MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

time  he  came  to  treat  of  the  temptation  of  Christ  on  the 
mountain,  and  commented  on  the  various  views  of  religious 
writers  as  to  what  the  actual  appearance  of  the  devil  might 
have  been.  He  himself  came  to  no  conclusion  as  to  what  dress 
his  Satanic  majesty  had  assumed  on  this  interesting  occasion, 
but  wound  up  by  saying  that  one  thing  was  certain,  he  must 
have  appeared  as  a  respectable  person.  Leonhardi,  with  his 
arms  upon  the  desk  and  closed  eyes,  had  for  some  time  laid 
his  head  down  to  sleep.  The  director,  observing  this,  asked 
him : ' '  Von  Leonhardi !  are  you  sick  ?  "  "  No, ' '  answered  Leon- 
hardi, "I  am  trying  to  sleep."  "And  why  are  you  trying  to 
sleep?"  asked  the  director.  "Because  I  can  no  longer  listen 
to  such  stupid  stuff  (dummes  Zeug)."  The  whole  class  broke 
out  in  loud  and  approving  laughter.  The  director  turned 
pale,  and  could  not  utter  a  syllable  for  a  while.  When  the 
director  finally  said,  "Von  Leonhardi,  you  had  better  with- 
draw," Leonhardi  picked  up  his  books  and  quietly  left  the 
room.  The  matter  was  made  up  in  some  way,  but  at  the  end 
of  the  term  of  that  class  he  left  college.  He  was  a  tall,  very 
fine-looking  young  man,  but  rather  reticent  and  not  sharing 
much  in  our  sometimes  pretty  wild  amusements.  He  was  re- 
spected but  was  not  popular  amongst  us. 


CHAPTER  III 

School  Life  Continued.    Early  Travels 

A  few  years  after  the  War  of  Liberation,  the  great 
political  Reaction  set  in.  The  new  constitution  of  Germany, 
the  German  Bund,  was  a  very  loose  affair.  Leaving  the  sov- 
ereigns who  constituted  it  almost  entirely  independent  as 
long  as  they  followed  the  dictates  of  Austria  and  Prussia, 
the  Diet  (Bundestag),  the  moment  they  showed  signs  of 
granting  greater  liberties  to  their  people,  repressed  them. 
The  articles  of  the  Act  of  Confederation  which  provided  for 
freedom  of  the  press  and  guaranteed  to  the  several  states  rep- 
resentative governments,  were  either  not  executed  at  all, 
or  evaded  by  miserable  caricatures  of  such  governments. 
Very  soon  Liberal  writers  were  persecuted,  the  censorship 
of  the  press  (Censur)  instituted,  and  the  most  despotic 
principles  openly  avowed.  A  confederacy,  such  as  the  Ger- 
man Bund,  was  fatally  bad  for  the  reason  alone  (amongst 
many  others),  that  the  two  states  of  Austria  and  Prussia, 
counting  amongst  the  great  powers  of  Europe  and  pos- 
sessing large  territories  outside  of  Germany  proper,  were 
members  of  it  and  rivals  to  boot.  They  had  their  own 
national  policies,  could  have,  and  did  have,  wars  out- 
side of  the  Bund,  and  used  the  rest  of  Germany  merely 
as  an  instrument  to  further  their  own  interests.  The  Kings 
of  Prussia,  Frederick  William  the  Third  and  the  Fourth,  were 
very  weak  and  vacillating,  and  were  soon  reduced  to  play  a 
secondary  part  to  the  artful  Metternich,  who  was  opposed  to 
all  popular  liberty,  for  fear  that  his  own  motley  monarchy 
might  be  contaminated  by  the  liberal  ideas  of  the  other  Ger- 
man States. 


38 


THE  POLITICAL  SITUATION  AND  THE  GREEK  WAR  OP  INDEPENDENCE 

The  King  of  Prussia,  who  when  he  called  the  people  to 
arms  to  rescue  him  from  French  domination  had  sacredly 
promised  them  a  representative  government,  broke  his  word ; 
and  when,  as  could  not  fail,  deep  dissatisfaction  at  his  con- 
duct was  shown  by  many  of  his  people  and  by  the  very  patri- 
ots who  had  fought  in  his  armies  as  volunteers  and  had  by 
speaking  and  writing  roused  the  people  to  action,  the  Prus- 
sian government  was  nearly  as  severe  in  persecuting  the 
men  of  the  opposition  as  was  Metternich,  who  filled  with 
political  prisoners  the  dungeons  of  Austria  and  Hungary. 
Such  men  as  Stein,  Arndt,  Gneisenau,  and  Schoen,  were 
closely  watched.  Arndt  was  removed  from  his  professor- 
ship at  the  University  at  Bonn,  and  imprisoned. 

In  Frankfort,  where  the  seat  of  the  German  Diet  (Bund- 
estag) was,  and  under  the  inspiration  of  that  Diet,  the  re- 
action made  its  appearance  somewhat  later.  Under  the  new 
Frankfort  Constitution  (1816),  a  legislative  assembly  had  to 
be  elected  by  the  citizens  every  year.  My  father  was  elected 
a  member  several  times, — I  think  for  the  years  1818  and  1819. 
He  was,  of  course,  of  the  Liberal  party,  and  I  was  old  enough 
then  to  listen  to  and  understand  his  views  about  the  political 
situation  of  the  country.  Most  of  the  friends  who  visited  us 
belonged  to  the  same  political  party,  and  none  but  liberal 
newspapers  were  kept  at  our  house.  My  older  brothers  were 
as  warm  opponents  of  the  reactionary  policy,  then  almost 
everywhere  prevailing  in  Germany,  as  father  was.  The  Italian 
revolutions  in  Piedmont  and  Naples  were  greeted  by  all  lib- 
erals in  Frankfort  with  joy,  and  great  was  their  disappoint- 
ment at  the  speedy  suppression  of  the  uprisings  by  the  Aus- 
trian army,  acting  under  the  orders  of  the  Holy  Alliance. 

The  Greek  war  of  independence  (1821),  which  excited 
the  interest  and  admiration  of  the  best  people  of  the  entire 
civilized  world,  was  also  greeted  with  great  enthusiasm  in 
our  family.  Father  became  a  member  of  the  Philhellenic 


EARLY  TRAVELS  39 

Committee  of  Frankfort,  the  object  of  which  was  to  collect 
contributions  and  money  for  equipping  and  furnishing  trans- 
portation to  the  many  young  men  who  had  determined  to  vol- 
unteer in  the  Grecian  service.  The  principal  committee  for 
France,  Switzerland  and  Germany  had  its  headquarters  in 
Geneva,  where  the  auxiliary  forces  were  organized;  for  the 
governments  of  France  and  Germany,  under  Metternich's  in- 
fluence, had  forbidden  all  recruiting.  To  facilitate  the  collec- 
tions a  most  stirring  appeal  had  been  printed  in  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  copies,  which  were  everywhere  distributed.  From 
the  directory  of  Frankfort  names  were  selected,  several  thou- 
sands of  printed  addresses  were  put  in  envelopes  and  person- 
ally delivered  to  each  individual.  The  porter  of  our  store 
distributed  some,  but  the  greatest  number  was  delivered  by 
me  in  my  free  hours.  It  was  a  hard  task,  for  I  had  to  climb 
very  often  three  or  four  pairs  of  stairs  to  find  the  person  to 
whom  the  paper  was  addressed.  But  I  did  it  most  cheerfully. 
The  Greek  cause  soon  came  nearer  home  to  us.  My  brother 
Fritz  at  that  time  was  employed  as  a  lithographer  in  one  of 
Cotta's  printing  and  publishing  establishments,  at  Stuttgart, 
which  was  one  of  the  most  active  centers  of  Philhellenic  senti- 
ment. Norman,  the  general  who  in  the  last  hours  of  the  bat- 
tle of  Leipsic  had  gone  over  with  some  regiments  of  "Wuertem- 
berg  cavalry  to  the  allies,  had  already  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  a  large  number  of  volunteers,  who,  by  the  time  he 
reached  Marseilles,  had  grown  to  a  battalion  or  two.  He  or- 
ganized them  in  Greece,  and  they  were  almost  the  first  troops 
there  that  could  be  called  regulars.  In  one  of  the  first  con- 
siderable battles  fought  against  the  Turks,  near  the  Bay  of 
Corinth,  at  Arta,  these  battalions  of  Norman  nearly  all  per- 
ished. The  bulk  of  the  army  consisted  of  some  five  or  six 
thousand  Greeks  who  ran  away  en  masse  when  the  first  artil- 
lery fire  of  the  Turks  took  effect  in  their  ranks,  leaving  the 
Philhellenes,  nearly  all  Germans,  to  fight  it  out.  And  they 
did  so,  being  nearly  all  killed  in  the  field,  and  the  wounded 


40  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

all  dispatched,  for  in  that  war  neither  party  gave  quarter.  A 
few  only  lived  to  tell  the  sad  tale. 

Before  this  was  known  new  companies  of  volunteers  were 
formed  at  Stuttgart  and  other  places,  and  all  at  once  Fritz 
wrote  us  that  he  had  joined  them,  and  was  determined  to  fight 
in  the  sacred  cause.  My  parents  knew  that  they  could  not 
change  his  resolution,  and  with  regret  and  sorrowful  fore- 
bodings furnished  him  with  the  necessary  means  to  accomplish 
his  purpose.  He  wrote  us  very  interesting  letters  from  Switzer- 
land, where  a  battalion  was  being  organized;  from  Lyons, 
describing  his  delightful  trip  down  the  Rhone;  and  from 
Marseilles,  where  he  embarked.  Unfortunately  all  these  let- 
ters and  those  he  wrote  from  Greece  and  Turkey,  together 
with  my  whole  correspondence  from  the  United  States  with 
my  mother,  brother  and  sisters,  while  they  were  alive,  cover- 
ing in  all  nearly  twenty-two  years,  and  a  great  many  other 
family  papers,  were  lost.  After  the  death  of  brother  Charles 
(in  1858),  his  only  child  Henrietta,  being  a  minor,  was  taken 
into  the  house  of  one  of  her  maternal  uncles  at  Frankfort, 
who  was  also  her  guardian.  He  could  never  tell  what  became 
of  the  papers,  and  of  a  great  many  other  things  which  were 
mementoes  in  our  family,  though  he  recollected  having  seen 
large  packages  and  bundles  of  letters  in  the  possession  of  the 
father  of  Henrietta.  My  letters  would  have  greatly  helped 
me  in  writing  my  reminiscences  of  the  first  seven  years  of  my 
life  in  the  United  States,  as  being  the  impressions  of  the  mo- 
ment they  undoubtedly  gave  a  graphic  and  vivid  representa- 
tion of  the  conditions  of  that  time. 

Fritz  landed  with  his  battalion  at  Napoli  di  Romania.  He 
found  everything  in  confusion.  Two  of  the  principal  leaders, 
Kolocotronis  and  Maurocordatos  had  fallen  out,  each  pretend- 
ing to  be  at  the  head  of  the  government.  As  the  Philhellenes 
did  not  know  whom  to  obey  and  sought  to  be  neutral  between 
the  two  factions,  they  were  neglected  by  both,  received  no  ra- 
tions and  yet  had  to  fight  the  Turks  whenever  occasion  offered. 
Many  of  them  soon  became  disgusted.  The  Greeks  shunned 


EARLY  TRAVELS  41 

open  fights,  except  when  greatly  outnumbering  the  enemy; 
carried  on  the  war  in  a  most  cruel  guerrilla  style;  relied  on 
night  surprises;  and  killed  their  prisoners  indiscriminately, 
including  both  women  and  children.  Fritz  was  at  the  siege 
of  Athens,  at  the  storming  of  Napoli  di  Romania,  which  had 
been  retaken  by  the  Turks  soon  after  his  arrival;  was  taken 
down  with  malarial  fever;  and  since  hospitals  either  did  not 
exist,  or  were  mere  pest-holes,  he  took  leave  of  absence  (or 
was  discharged,  I  do  not  recollect  which),  and  crossed  to 
Smyrna,  where  he  was  kindly  received  by  the  members  of  a 
mercantile  branch  of  a  Frankfort  banker,  St.  George,  and 
there  found  employment.  As  the  fever  did  not  leave  him,  he 
decided  to  return,  by  way  of  Alexandria  and  Ancona,  and 
reached  home,  some  time  I  believe  in  1824,  after  a  two  years' 
absence,  emaciated  to  a  skeleton  and  greatly  disappointed.  In 
his  judgment  the  Turks  were  far  superior  in  every  way  to  the 
Greeks,  an  opinion  that  was  shared  also  by  Dr.  Lieber,  a  cele- 
brated German-American  publicist,  as  appears  from  a  book 
in  which  he  gives  a  lively  description  of  his  own  experiences 
as  a  Philhellene. 

Fritz,  after  his  return,  took  up  lithography  again,  but 
did  not  feel  himself  at  home  in  Frankfort,  and  was  glad  to 
obtain  a  position  in  a  mercantile  branch  of  a  Frankfort  house 
at  Buenos  Ayres,  in  South  America.  It  must  be  noted  here 
that  after  Fritz  had  gone  through  his  mercantile  apprentice- 
ship, he,  having  an  uncommon  talent  for  drawing  and  print- 
ing, gave  up  his  commercial  career  and  devoted  himself  to 
drawing  and  lithography,  which  had  just  then  come  into  great 
vogue.  As  a  lithographer  he  had  found  employment  with 
Cotta  at  Stuttgart,  before  going  to  Greece.  He  left  in 
1825.  We  received  several  letters  from  him  expressing 
his  satisfaction  with  his  new  position,  but  suddenly  his 
correspondence  ceased,  and  after  a  while  we  received  the 
news  of  his  death.  A  war  had  broken  out  between  Ura- 
guay  and  Buenos  Ayres  on  one  side  and  Brazil  on  the 
other.  In  some  capacity  or  other  he  was  on  board  the 


42  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

frigate  Isabella  belonging  to  Buenos  Ayres  when  she  was 
attacked  by  a  Brazilian  man-of-war  and  taken  in  the 
River  La  Plata,  after  a  severe  fight.  The  frigate  was  after- 
wards retaken,  but  Fritz  was  missing.  In  spite  of  various 
efforts  through  the  consuls,  the  particulars  of  his  demise 
could  never  be  obtained.  According  to  my  present  recollec- 
tion, the  naval  fight  took  place  some  time  in  the  year  1826. 
His  life  was  a  failure.  Of  the  most  uncommon  talents  and 
of  an  amiable  disposition,  he  lacked  steadiness  and  persever- 
ance. He  was  too  fond  of  company,  too  generous  and  open- 
handed,  and  had  no  idea  of  the  value  of  time  or  money.  In 
spite  of  the  many  sorrows  and  pains  he  caused  his  parents, 
they,  and  we  all,  loved  him  dearly. 

ATHLETIC  SPORTS 

While  at  college,  I  and  some  of  my  schoolmates  joined 
a  Turners'  Society.  A  garden  was  rented  near  the  city,  and 
except  in  the  winter  season  we  exercised  twice  a  week  on  the 
gymnastic  apparatus.  Fencing  was  also  largely  cultivated, 
confined,  however,  to  practising  with  the  broadsword  foil. 
My  older  brothers  had  a  pair  of  such  foils  at  the  house,  to- 
gether with  large  felt  hats  and  gauntlets.  I  did  not  become 
an  expert  at  these  broadsword  exercises,  but  became  proficient 
enough  to  make  me  very  successful  in  about  half  a  dozen  en- 
counters with  that  weapon  at  the  Universities  of  Munich  and 
Heidelberg.  Indeed,  I  was  never  touched  in  these  duels, 
though  on  similar  occasions,  with  the  small  sword  at  Jena, 
where  no  other  weapons  were  permitted,  and  in  the  use  of 
which  I  thought  myself  almost  a  master,  I  was  two  or  three 
times  pretty  severely  handled  by  my  opponents.  The  River 
Main  afforded  us  a  fine  opportunity  for  rowing,  sailing  and 
swimming  in  summer,  and  a  splendid  ice  field  for  skating  in 
winter.  Father  was  a  great  walker,  and  used  to  take  me 
with  him,  even  when  I  was  quite  small,  when  he  visited  Offen- 
bach, Soden,  Cronberg,  or  Homburg,  the  distance  of  the  latter 


EARLY  TRAVELS  43 

places  being  from  nine  to  ten  miles  from  Frankfort.     There 
was  no  lack  of  vigorous  exercise  in  my  bringing  up. 

EARLY   PROFESSIONAL   PLANS 

I  had  a  strong  inclination  to  study  medicine,  and  there 
was  an  institute  at  Frankfort,  called  the  Senckenberg  Institute. 
It  was  attached  to  a  hospital  founded  by  Dr.  Senckenberg  for 
aged  citizens.  But  he  had  added  to  it  his  garden,  which  he 
made  a  botanical  one.  He  had  also  endowed  a  botanical  pro- 
fessorship. Adjoining  the  botanical  garden  he  had  erected  an 
anatomical  museum,  to  which  a  professorship  was  also  at- 
tached. For  a  very  small  entrance  fee,  students  of  the  college 
who  intended  to  become  physicians  could  use  all  these  estab- 
lishments. Young  practising  physicians  also  enjoyed  this 
privilege.  I  had  reached  the  second  highest  class  at  college. 
I  attended  lectures  on  anatomy  one  winter,  but  became  dis- 
gusted with  the  dissecting  room,  and  went  there  only  once  or 
twice.  But  the  botanical  garden  I  frequented  much  and  in 
the  summer-time  made  botanical  excursions  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  city  twice  a  week.  We  had  to  be  at  the  professor 's 
room  as  early  as  five  in  the  morning,  and  then  tramped  out 
through  heavy  dews,  little  branches  and  ponds,  so  that  we  gen- 
erally returned  much  fatigued  by  eight  or  nine  o'clock,  and 
often  with  wet  feet.  Yet  I  think  only  with  delight  on  these 
botanical  promenades.  I  collected  quite  an  herbarium.  The 
gathering  of  the  plants,  their  arrangement,  the  drying  and 
pressing  of  them,  was  a  favorite  occupation  with  me.  Of 
course,  I  often  went  botanizing  of  my  own  accord. 

I  became  slightly  acquainted  at  that  time  with  George 
Engelmann,  who  was  at  the  college,  but,  he  being  a  year  or  two 
older  and  in  the  first  class,  it  was  only  through  these  botanical 
excursions  with  Professor  Becker  that  I  knew  him.  I  had  then 
no  idea  that  we  should  become  so  closely  related  in  after  life. 
He  had  gone  to  the  United  States  a  year  before  I  went,  and 
there  became  one  of  the  most  distinguished  physicians  and  a 
still  more  distinguished  botanist.  He  was  also  an  eminent 


44  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

geologist.  When  lie  died  lie  was  a  member  of  many  academies 
and  learned  societies  in  Europe  and  the  United  States.  In  the 
course  of  these  reminiscences  we  shall  meet  him  very  often. 

My  desire  to  become  a  physician  or  a  doctor,  as  was  then 
the  usual  appellation  of  a  medical  man,  was  not  encouraged 
by  my  family.  My  mother  had  several  reasons  for  having 
strong  objections.  She  said  that  my  nurse,  on  account  of  my 
loud  crying  and  general  "  cussedness, "  had  always  said  I 
must  become  a  "Procurateur" —  a  name  in  olden  times  fre- 
quently given  to  advocates.  The  strongest  objection,  how- 
ever, was,  that  she  thought  I  was  not  handsome  enough.  She 
may  have  been  right;  but  I  may  say,  without  laying  myself 
open  to  the  charge  of  too  great  vanity,  that  I  had  no  trouble 
in  finding  during  my  life  many  warm  and  devoted  friends 
among  the  fair  sex. 

SOCIAL  LIFE 

In  our  house  there  was  much  society.  My  sisters  had 
many  girl  friends.  Once  or  twice  every  week,  they  would 
have  some  of  them  call  in  the  evening  before  supper,  which 
was  always  late,  eight  o'clock  in  winter,  and  nine  or  half 
past  nine  in  summer.  These  were  free  and  easy  meetings, 
like  the  tertulias  in  Spain.  Sometimes  there  was  tea,  coffee  or 
fruit  served.  The  girls  would  play  on  the  piano,  sing,  dance, 
play  at  blind  man's  buff  and  other  games.  I  was  often 
amongst  them,  as  were  also  some  of  my  friends.  My  father 
had  a  very  large  number  of  friends  in  the  city,  and  in  neigh- 
boring and  even  distant  towns,  owing  to  the  fact  that  he 
acted  as  a  commission-merchant  for  small  booksellers  in  those 
places,  and  also  that  he  had,  particularly  in  earlier  times, 
published  works  of  clergymen  and  teachers  in  colleges  and 
schools.  His  close  connection  with  the  Bluecher  Club  had 
brought  him  in  contact  with  many  prominent  men  in  Offen- 
bach, Homburg,  Hanau  and  Darmstadt. 

Particularly  at  the  time  of  the  two  fairs  in  Frankfort 
we  had  a  good  many  visitors  from  abroad,  who  sometimes 


EARLY  TRAVELS  45 

stayed  for  weeks,  and  amongst  them  were  some  quite  inter- 
esting people.  Among  places  in  which  we  had  warm  friends 
must  be  mentioned,  in  particular,  Kreuznach  and  Bad  Ems. 
Business  connections  brought  my  father  to  the  first  place. 
He  made  many  friends,  amongst  others  a  merchant  by  the 
name  of  Kauffmann,  who  was  the  author  of  a  book  of  songs, 
some  of  which  were  really  of  great  merit.  He  was  an  orig- 
inal, full  of  humor  and  wit,  an  inimitable  story-teller  and 
mimic.  He  was  the  best  type  of  the  ever  gay  and  vivacious 
Rhinelander.  He  came  regularly  to  the  Frankfort  fair  and 
made  his  purchases,  and  we  were  all  delighted  when  he  ar- 
rived. Sometimes  his  sons  and  daughters  came  to  see  us,  and 
my  sister  Pauline  spent  in  return  many  weeks  and  months 
at  his  delightful  Kreuznach  home,  where  some  two  or  three 
times  I  also  spent  part  of  my  college  vacation.  We  became 
acquainted  with  other  families  there,  and  I  yet  remember  the 
delightful  picnic  parties  we  had  at  the  Ebernburg  and  other 
picturesque  places  which  surround  Kreuznach. 

As  to  Ems,  though  its  waters  were  known  as  highly  cur- 
ative in  certain  diseases,  it  was  not  then  the  fashionable  wat- 
ering place  it  became  in  later  years;  and  it  was  perhaps  for 
this  reason  a  more  agreeable  place  to  visit.  Our  connection 
with  Ems  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  sister  Pauline,  whose 
lungs  had  become  somewhat  affected,  spent  a  season  there  and 
took  lodgings  at  the  Four  Towers  (Vier  Thuermen),  a  kind  of 
chateau  in  renaissance  style,  that  had  belonged  to  a  noble 
family  and  was  now  owned  by  the  widow  of  Dr.  Thilenius, 
who  had  been  the  ducal  bath-physician.  The  structure  had 
been  converted  into  a  bath  house,  and  was  no  hotel.  The 
guests  were  accommodated  with  furnished  rooms,  and  the 
baths  were  taken  in  a  large  basin.  Most  of  the  people  stay- 
ing there  were  of  the  highest  class ;  and  had  usually  their  own 
cooks  and  servants.  The  kitchen  was  of  a  large  size,  with 
many  ranges,  so  that  several  families  could  have  their  meals 
prepared  at  once.  But  most  of  the  guests  went  to  neighbor- 
ing restaurants.  The  widow  Thilenius  was  a  woman  of  un- 


46  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

common  intellect,  and  showed,  when  I  first  knew  her,  traces 
of  rare  beauty.  She  was  a  splendid  business  woman,  for 
which  excellence  Boerne,  who  had  quarreled  with  her  about 
prices,  gave  her,  in  one  of  his  letters,  some  sarcastic  hits.  She 
was  a  fine  writer  and  given  to  making  verses.  She  became 
exceedingly  fond  of  Pauline,  and  promised  to  visit  her  in 
Frankfort.  On  parting  she  wrote  in  Pauline's  album: 

"Sprudle  emsig;  sprudle  helle, 
Frische  Emser  Silberquelle. 
Eine  liebe  kranke  Rose 
Ward  gesund  in  deinem  Schoose." 

She  afterwards  came  to  Frankfort,  and  father,  Pauline 
and  myself  visited  Ems  repeatedly. 

THE  THILENIUS  FAMILY 

As  the  Thilenius  family  became  somewhat  interwoven 
with  our  own,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  give  their  history,  as 
far  as  I  became  acquainted  with  it.  In  the  first  place,  the 
late  Dr.  Thilenius  was  not  only  known  as  one  of  the  ablest 
physicians  in  the  Dukedom  of  Nassau,  but  stood  very  high  as 
a  man.  It  was  said  that  it  was  he  who  resurrected  the  baths 
at  Ems.  They  were  known  to  the  Romans  and  highly  prized 
by  them;  and  even  in  the  middle  ages  they  had  a  great  rep- 
utation. But  for  some  reason  or  other,  perhaps  because  there 
was  no  gambling  permitted  there,  they  were,  towards  the  end 
of  the  last  century  overshadowed  by  such  places  as  Spaa, 
Pyrmont,  and  Wilhelmsbad.  Dr.  Thilenius,  by  having  the 
springs  and  baths  put  in  fine  condition,  and  by  demonstrat- 
ing in  a  number  of  publications  the  excellence  of  the  waters, 
had  attracted  invalids  in  great  numbers  to  the  place,  and  so 
was  honored  by  the  Duke  with  orders,  and  loved  by  the  peo- 
ple as  a  benefactor.  For  this  reason  the  family  had  much 
pride. 

The  Four  Towers  were,  at  the  time  I  visited  there,  much 
patronized.  At  one  time  I  found  nearly  all  the  rooms,  in- 
cluding the  large  salon,  occupied  by  the  Grand  Duke  of 


EAELY  TRAVELS  47 

Russia,  Constantino,  and  his  wife,  with  an  immense  suite  of 
adjutants,  chamberlains,  etc.,  etc.  At  another,  the  Duke  of 
Clarence,  who  afterwards  became  William  IV  of  England, 
was  a  guest,  and  with  him  were  two  beautiful  young  girls 
(his  daughters  by  some  lady  unknown),  who  went  by  the 
name  of  the  Misses  Fitz-Clarence. 

The  times  I  spent  at  Ems  were  most  delightful.  It  was 
always  vacation-time.  I  met  there  the  three  Thilenius  sons, 
one  of  whom  was  a  student  of  medicine  at  Giessen,  Rudolf 
by  name;  the  other,  Otto,  who  was  at  the  Weilburg  Gym- 
nasium ;  and  Ernest,  who  was  at  a  much-noted  private  board- 
ing-school at  Offenbach,  so  largely  patronized  by  English  boys 
that  the  language  spoken  there  in  conversation  was  English. 
What  splendid  parties  we  made,  mostly  on  donkeys  or  ponies, 
along  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Lahn  and  in  the  side  val- 
leys, as  far  even  as  Coblentz  on  the  Rhine!  Only  one  of  the 
girls,  Matilda,  lived  at  Ems.  The  eldest,  Charlotte,  was  al- 
ready married  to  a  Herr  von  Haus,  and  resided  at  Wuerz- 
burg.  The  youngest  was  in  a  ladies'  seminary,  also  at  Offen- 
bach. All  the  children  were  very  handsome,  some  of  them  of 
most  exquisite  beauty.  I  became  very  intimate  with  all  of 
them.  Charlotte  von  Haus  was  the  most  perfect  beauty  I 
ever  saw.  To  attempt  a  description  of  this  charming  lady 
would  be  a  vain  task.  In  the  words  of  Byron: 

"Who  has  not  proved  how  feebly  words  essay 
To  fix  one  spark  of  beauty 's  heavenly  ray ! 
Who  does  not  feel,  until  his  failing  sight 
Faints  into  dimness  with  its  own  delight, 
His  changing  cheek,  his  sinking  heart  confess 
The  might,  the  majesty  of  loveliness ! ' ' 

I  have  somewhere  seen  a  German  translation  of  these 
lines  which  do  justice,  in  my  opinion,  more  than  justice,  to 
the  original.  It  runs  thus: 


48  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

"Wer  hat  es  nicht  gefuehlt,  wie  schwer  zu  malen, 
Ein  Punken  aus  der  Schoenheits  Himmelsstrahlen ! 
"Wer  fuehlt  es  nicht,  in  wessen  Angesicht 
Geblendet  von  der  Reize  Zauberlieht, 
Wess  klopfend  Herz,  wess  Wange  Glut  entbrannt, 
Hat  je  der  Schoenheit  Wundermacht  erkannt!" 

There  was  added  to  her  Grecian  beauty  of  face  and  form, 
a  most  fascinating  loveliness  and  grace.  She  was  highly  ac- 
complished, a  fine  musician,  and  full  of  spirit.  I  was  so 
lucky  as  to  become  quite  a  pet  of  hers.  A  few  years  later, 
passing  through  Wuerzburg,  I  called  upon  her,  and  was  re- 
ceived most  kindly  by  herself  and  husband,  who  was  a  prom- 
inent physician  and  also  a  man  of  high  intellect,  of  exquisite 
wit,  and  a  charming  conversationalist.  At  a  little  later  period, 
on  my  return  home  from  Munich  (1831),  I  stopped  our  vet- 
turino  for  an  hour  at  Friedberg,  where  the  doctor  then  re- 
sided as  official  physician  for  the  district  (Kreis-physicus). 
They  expressed  great  pleasure  at  my  call.  Charlotte,  though 
some  ten  years  older  than  when  I  first  saw  her,  was  as  fair 
as  ever,  and  as  kind  and  loving  to  me  as  when  I  was  a  boy. 
They  afterwards  moved  to  the  city  of  Augsburg ;  but  when  I 
passed  through  that  place  some  thirty  years  later,  I  had  no 
time  to  renew  our  old  friendship. 

Mathilde  Thilenius  was  a  brunette  with  most  brilliant 
eyes  and  handsome  features,  but  perhaps  a  little  too  tall  for 
a  woman.  She  was  also  very  vivacious,  full  of  wit  and  humor ; 
she  was  more  housewifely  than  Charlotte.  She  married,  some 
years  after  I  became  acquainted  with  her,  a  Mr.  Reimann,  a 
clergyman  in  the  electorate  of  Hesse.  Otillie,  the  youngest, 
was  quite  a  child  when  I  first  met  her.  After  my  return  from 
the  University  (1832),  she  came  to  us  often  from  her  sem- 
inary at  Offenbach.  She,  too,  was  very  beautiful,  but  had 
not  the  sprightliness  and  vivacity  of  her  sisters.  As  she  was 
then  only  a  girl  of  twelve  or  thirteen  years,  she  may  have 
become  quite  as  interesting. 


EARLY  TRAVELS  49 

If  the  Thilenius  girls  were  fair,  and  "fairer  than  that 
word,"  so  were  the  sons.  I  found  Rudolf,  on  my  settling  in 
Frankfort  in  1832,  a  practicing  physician  at  some  town  in 
the  Dukedom  of  Nassau.  He  came  to  Frankfort  often  to  see 
us.  He  died  quite  young,  after  I  had  left  Europe.  Otto  be- 
came a  very  eminent  lawyer,  but  I  cannot  now  recollect 
where  he  settled  and  when  he  died. 

Ernest,  just  of  my  age,  was  the  handsomest  among  them. 
He  was  the  male  impersonation  of  Charlotte.  When  at  Offen- 
bach, in  the  Spies  Institute,  he  used  to  call  on  us  almost  every 
Saturday.  In  vacation  times  he  stayed  for  days  at  our  house. 
We  became  very  intimate.  He  had  a  lofty  mind  and  high 
aspirations,  and  had  determined  to  become  an  artist.  When  I 
left  college  he  also  had  completed  his  education  at  Offenbach, 
and  went  somewhere  to  study  his  profession  as  a  painter.  I 
lost  sight  of  him  then,  but  learned  later  that  he  had  spent  a 
number  of  years  in  Rome,  pursuing  his  studies  in  painting 
and  architecture.  He  was  so  fortunate,  or  unfortunate,  as  to 
have  the  wife  of  a  very  distinguished  member  of  the  English 
Parliament  fall  deeply  in  love  with  him;  and  he  had  actu- 
ally to  run  away  from  Rome  to  prevent  a  scene.  I  presume  he 
led  a  very  Bohemian  sort  of  life,  as  is  very  common  with 
idealistic  artists.  In  1850  he  surprised  me  very  much  by  his 
appearance  in  Belleville,  bringing  with  him  a  young,  very 
handsome,  sprightly  and  amiable  wife, — his  own  niece,  the 
daughter  of  Mathilde.  He  still  showed  traces  of  his  former 
beauty ;  but  he  was  now  stricken  with  consumption.  His  plan 
was  to  make  a  living  by  portrait-painting  and  by  giving  les- 
sons in  drawing  and  painting.  He  only  partially  succeeded, 
owing  largely  to  his  bad  health.  They  stayed  some  weeks  at 
our  house,  then  took  lodgings  near  us.  He  died  some  time  in 
the  winter  of  1852.  Emma,  his  widow,  came  back  to  us  to 
live.  She  was  an  excellent  performer  on  the  piano  and  a  de- 
lightful singer.  She  gave  lessons  to  my  daughter  Mary  and 
to  other  young  ladies  in  Belleville.  In  1853  or  1854  she  mar- 
ried William  Kribben,  of  St.  Louis,  and  became  thereby  a 


50  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

sister-in-law  of  Theodore  Engelmann,  of  Steelridge,  who  had 
married  William's  sister.  Emma  lost  her  husband  in  1872 
or  1873,  and  has,  since  his  death,  been  engaged  as  a  German 
teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  St.  Louis. 

ATTRACTIONS  OF   FRANKFORT 

Frankfort  at  the  time  of  my  college  days,  though  not  as 
large  and  beautiful  a  city  as  now,  was  a  place  which  could 
not  help  greatly  influencing  the  character  of  young  people. 
There  was  the  appearance  at  least  of  a  free,  independent  and 
republican  government,  great  wealth  and  very  little  poverty; 
for  the  poor  were  taken  care  of  by  a  large  number  of  benevo- 
lent institutions  and  also  by  the  city  fathers.  There  was  life 
and  animation  in  business;  the  great  fairs  brought  thousands 
of  people  from  far  and  wide,  France,  England,  Italy,  Bel- 
gium, Switzerland,  and  the  other  German  States.  It 
was  the  seat  of  the  German  Diet,  composed  of  del- 
egates from  all  the  states,  with  their  secretaries  and 
suites.  To  the  Diet  all  the  great  powers  had  ac- 
credited ambassadors,  accompanied  by  secretaries  of  le- 
gation and  attaches.  Besides,  it  was  the  seat  of  the 
military  commission,  having  supervision  of  the  entire  army 
of  the  Bund;  the  commissioners  being  all  generals  or  colo- 
nels, with  their  adjutants.  On  public  occasions  all  these  diplo- 
matists and  military  chiefs  appeared  in  their  glittering  uni- 
forms. In  the  summer,  the  city  was  thronged  with  travelers 
resorting  to  the  various  mineral  springs  which  surround 
Frankfort,  such  as,  Soden,  Homburg,  Wilhelmsbad,  Cron- 
berg,  Wiesbaden,  Schlangenbad,  Weilbach,  Schwalbach;  and 
most  of  them  made  a  stay  at  the  old  imperial  city.  One  must 
have  been  very  dull  indeed,  if  in  such  environments,  in  the 
house  and  out  of  the  house,  he  should  not  more  or  less  have 
lost  his  provincialism  and  ceased  to  be  a  Philistine.  Goethe 
says  truly:  "Let  no  one  believe  he  can  ever  overcome  early 
impressions. ' ' 


EARLY  TRAVELS  51 

EARLY  TRAVELS 

To  finish  what  I  have  to  say  as  to  my  early  life  at  school 
and  college  in  Frankfort,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  speak  of  my 
travels  during  that  time.  They  were  not  very  extensive,  con- 
sidering the  present  mode  of  locomotion  by  steamship  and 
railway,  but  still  at  that  time  were  looked  upon  as  by  no  means 
insignificant.  In  1816  my  mother  and  sisters  went  to  Kreuz- 
nach,  and  I  was  taken  along.  I  have  no  particular  recollec- 
tion of  this  journey,  except  that  our  carriage  was  the  last  that 
crossed  the  pontoon  bridge  at  Mayence,  which  was  afterwards 
carried  away  by  the  unusual  rise  of  the  waters  of  the  Rhine. 
It  was  that  dreadful  year  of  high  water  all  over  Germany 
and  other  continental  countries,  the  rainfall  having  destroyed 
the  harvest  of  all  kinds  of  grain  and  potatoes,  producing  the 
extensive  famine  of  1817.  In  Kreuznach  itself  at  a  picnic 
party  to  Rheingrafenstein,  we  were  overtaken  on  a  very  hot 
day  by  a  tremendous  thunderstorm,  and  got  thoroughly 
soaked.  The  shower  was  followed  by  a  very  cold  spell.  In 
the  night  I  was  taken  with  the  croup,  and  thought  to  be  dy- 
ing; but  almost  instant  medical  assistance  saved  me.  Of  this 
sickness  I  only  remember  the  biting  of  a  dozen  leeches  on  my 
throat.  In  a  few  days  I  was  well  enough  for  our  home  trip. 

In  1818,  my  father  having  business  in  Bonn  and  Cologne, 
took  mother  and  me  along.  It  was  a  splendid  journey,  of 
which  I  have  the  most  pleasant  and  distinct  recollections.  We 
drove  to  Mayence,  starting  late  in  the  evening,  and  got  there 
about  an  hour  before  the  regular  packet  for  Cologne,  called 
"Jaeht,"  left  its  landing-place  in  the  morning.  The  weather 
was  delightful.  There  were  many  travelers  of  all  nations. 
The  river  with  its  clear,  bright,  green  waters  (being  from 
Mayence  to  Bingen,  through  tne  celebrated  Rheingau,  broader 
than  anywhere  else),  was  in  its  whole  course  to  me  an  en- 
chanting sight.  "We  glided  by  Bieberich  with  its  magnificent 
chateau,  by  Ingelheim  on  the  left,  and  Erbach,  Johannisberg, 


LIBRARY 


52      MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Geisenheim,  Ruedesheim  on  the  right,  past  hills  clad  with  the 
noblest  vineyards  of  Germany. 

At  Bingen  we  stopped  for  dinner,  and  then  came  some 
very  anxious  moments.  At  Bingen  the  high  hills  which  bound 
the  river  come  close  together.  You  think  there  is  a  rocky  wall 
before  you.  Rocks  run  under  the  river  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  leaving  but  a  narrow  and  dangerous  channel  for  boats. 
This  passage  is  called  the  Binger  Hole  or  Loch.  On  the  left 
is  the  celebrated  Mouse  Tower,  on  the  right  the  castle  of 
Ehrenfels  on  a  very  high  rock,  where  the  Germania  statue 
now  stands.  The  water  rushes  through  the  hole  tumultuously, 
with  a  sinister  noise.  The  boat  descends  rapidly  several  feet. 
The  captain  assured  the  lady  passengers  that  the  river  was  in 
good  stage,  and  that  there  would  be  no  danger  of  striking  the 
rocks  underneath.  But  still  there  were  many  pale  faces,  and 
that  not  only  amongst  the  ladies.  When  the  rushing  of 
waters  was  heard,  the  captain  himself  took  the  helm;  and 
when  the  vessel  commenced  sinking  all  at  once  a  few  feet, 
there  was  a  loud  cry.  Mother  had  hold  of  me,  but  she  was 
more  scared  than  I  was.  Nevertheless,  we  got  through,  and 
felt  very  proud  at  having  defied  the  perils.  These  obstruc- 
tions are  now  entirely  removed.  But  at  the  time  I  speak  of 
the  Binger  Loch  was  a  terror  to  all  navigators,  except  in  very 
high  water. 

We  then  passed  by  ancient  Bacharach,  the  Lorelei  Rock, 
the  many  beautiful  ruins  of  old  castles  which  stand  on  the 
high  hills,  and  the  many  villages  and  towns  which  line  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine  between  Bingen  and  Coblentz.  At  the 
latter  place  our  yacht  stopped  all  night  and  the  passengers 
went  to  the  hotels  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  Early  in  the 
morning  we  started,  under  the  shadow  of  the  mighty  fortress 
of  Ehrenbreitstein,  for  Bonn,  passing  Rolandswoerth,  Godes- 
berg  and  the  Seven  Mountains.  At  Bonn  we  left  the  boat,  for 
father  had  come  here  to  attend  an  auction  of  oil  paintings,  in 
which  he  was  much  interested.  And  here  I  may  as  well  speak 


EARLY  TRAVELS  53 

of  a  circumstance  which  had  considerable  influence  over  our 
private  affairs. 

BUSINESS    REVERSES,    AND   ART    MATTERS 

After  the  peace,  my  father  had  been  led  to  the  determina- 
tion to  add  to  his  business  as  bookseller  and  publisher  another 
branch,  which  might  be  called  an  art  branch.  He  commenced 
at  first  by  purchasing  a  stock  of  some  modern,  but  more  par- 
ticularly ancient,  engravings,  etchings  and  wood  cuts,  and 
somewhat  later  added  oil  paintings  to  his  stock.  At  the  time, 
many  private  collections  of  paintings  had  come  under  the 
hammer,  and  sometimes  very  valuable  pictures  could  be 
bought  at  very  low  prices.  Fortunately,  or  unfortunately, 
my  father  had  in  several  instances  met  with  great  success; 
having  purchased  paintings  of  great  merit  very  cheaply,  for 
which  he  found  purchasers  at  three  or  four  times  the  original 
price.  So  he  accumulated  quite  a  stock  of  paintings  hi  oil  and 
water  colors.  About  the  year  1823  or  1824,  I  should  judge 
that  his  gallery  of  oil  paintings  contained  nearly  a  hundred 
pieces.  All  the  engravings  and  paintings,  however,  had  to 
be  paid  for  in  cash ;  and  in  the  end  a  considerable  capital  had 
been  invested.  But  sales  were  slow ;  the  best  of  the  collection 
were  found  to  be  too  high-priced;  and  the  indifferent  ones 
found  no  buyers.  Moreover,  the  new  business  interested 
father  more  than  his  regular  one,  and  took  up  much  of  his 
time.  Finally,  although  occasionally  he  met  with  sales,  he 
had  to  dispose  of  his  whole  stock  as  best  he  could. 

The  failure  of  this  enterprise  necessitated  economizing 
in  a  degree  unknown  before,  and  finally  a  change  in  our  en- 
tire mode  of  life.  Father  transferred  his  bookselling  and  pub- 
lishing business  to  brother  Charles,  who  took  another  store 
on  the  Steinway,  next  to  the  White  Swan  Hotel ;  while  father 
occupied  a  small  office  near  the  Neue  Kraeme,  where  he  sold 
the  remnants  of  his  engravings  and  paintings  and  what  was 
left  of  the  books  he  had  formerly  published.  His  health  also 
began  to  fail,  and  he  now  passed  almost  every  summer  at 


54  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Cronberg,  drinking  the  waters  there.  This  resort  became 
later  quite  celebrated ;  and  the  old  village,  under  the  ruins  of 
the  castle,  is  now  a  town  of  fine  villas,  and  almost  a  suburb 
of  Frankfort. 

Our  house  was  leased  at  a  very  high  rent,  it  being  in  an 
excellent  business  location ;  the  family  afterwards  residing  in 
rented  flats,  in  pleasant,  retired  places.  After  the  death  of 
father  in  1829,  and  after  I  had  gone  to  the  United  States,  our 
house  was  finally  sold;  leaving,  after  settling  incumbrances, 
still  a  handsome  capital  for  mother  and  sisters  to  live  on. 
But  in  the  later  years  of  mother's  life  it  was  greatly  reduced 
on  account  of  the  sickness  of  mother  and  my  sisters,  who  had 
to  use  almost  constantly  the  waters  of  such  places  as  Ems  and 
Wiesbaden,  so  that  when  mother  died  on  the  first  of  April, 
1847,  sister  Pauline  had  only  a  small  income.  Charles  also 
had  become  an  invalid  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  and  could 
do  but  very  little  business.  It  afforded  me  great  satisfac- 
tion that  I  was  then  able  to  assist  both  of  them  to  a  certain 
extent  and  thus  to  return  them  the  thousand  kindnesses  they 
had  done  me  when  I  was  with  them. 

While  this  undertaking  of  my  father's  dealing  in  sub- 
jects of  art  turned  out  badly  in  one  respect,  upon  me  it  had 
a  lasting  influence  throughout  life;  and  I  have  mentioned  it 
a  little  more  fully  for  the  reason  that  it  explains  how  I  came 
to  be  so  fond  of  everything  pertaining  to  painting  and  sculp- 
ture. When  I  had  published  my  book  "From  Spain"  ("Aus 
Spanien,"  1867),  some  of  my  friends  in  Europe,  as  well  as 
here,  expressed  surprise  that  I  should  have  devoted  so  much 
time  to  visiting  museums  and  galleries  and  should  have  writ- 
ten so  much,  and,  as  they  kindly  thought,  so  well,  of  pictures 
and  paintings  and  of  the  different  schools  of  art.  But  it  was 
only  natural  that  I  should  do  so,  considering  my  surround- 
ings when  I  was  yet  young  and  impressionable.  My  father's 
engravings  were  kept  in  large  portfolios  in  the  rooms  where 
the  pictures  were  stored,  and  we  children,  whenever  we  could 
get  permission,  were  wont  to  take  them  to  our  rooms  and 


EARLY  TRAVELS  55 

look  at  them.  A  great  many  were  rare  prints  by  old  master- 
engravers;  and  all  were  pleasing  to  us.  I  looked  over  all  of 
them,  while  a  boy  from  twelve  to  fifeen  years,  at  least  fifty 
times.  Often  I  tried  to  copy  some.  Yet,  though  I  had  draw- 
ing lessons  while  at  the  Model  School,  I  never  made  much 
of  a  draftsman. 

The  best  paintings  were  hung  in  our  largest  room  and  in 
the  adjoining  cabinets,  and  there  were  some  of  great  merit. 
The  gem  of  the  collection  was  a  ' '  Susanna  and  the  Elders ' '  by 
Francis  Floris,  a  Dutch  painter,  born  in  1520,  and  called  by 
his  contemporaries  the  Dutch  Raphael.  It  was  life-size  and 
in  color  as  rich  as  any  of  Rubens 's  masterpieces.  It  was  held 
by  father  at  several  thousand  florins ;  but  I  am  afraid  that  he 
never  received  that  price  for  it,  as  it  was  known  that  he  was 
very  anxious  to  sell  it.  There  was  also  a  real  Rubens,  "The 
Judgment  of  Solomon,"  but  it  was  of  small  size  and 
not  fully  finished.  Two  marine  pieces  by  Peters,  also 
a  Dutch  painter,  were  very  fine.  A  couple  of  beau- 
tiful landscapes  by  Schuetze,  who  was  much  appre- 
ciated by  Goethe,  together  with  other  paintings  of  mas- 
ters whose  names  I  do  not  now  recollect,  were  also 
in  the  main  rooms.  In  one  of  the  cabinets  there 
were  life-size  pictures  of  four  apostles,  Peter  and  Paul 
amongst  them,  frightful  to  behold,  but  attributed  by  some  to 
no  less  a  master  than  Albrecht  Duerer.  But  father  had  bought 
them  as  copies  merely.  I  saw,  later  in  life,  portraits  and 
other  pictures  by  Duerer  which  I  much  admired,  but  those 
in  our  collection  gave  me  a  very  poor  idea  of  him.  Of  course 
I  heard  many  discussions  about  paintings  and  the  masters; 
for  many  persons,  and  amongst  them  artists  and  connois- 
seurs, visited  our  picture  rooms. 

My  love  for  the  fine  arts  having  thus  been  stimulated,  I 
became,  while  at  college,  almost  a  constant  visitor  of  the  ex- 
cellent gallery  of  paintings  and  plaster  casts  donated  by  Mr. 
Staedel  to  my  native  city.  It  was  open  at  that  time  only  one 
day  in  the  week  for  a  few  hours,  and  on  Sundays  from  ten  to 


56  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

one  o'clock.  Almost  every  weekday,  and  on  Sundays, 
when  the  weather  did  not  permit  of  a  walk  through  the 
beautiful  promenade  after  church,  I  could  invariably  be  found 
at  the  Staedel  Institute.  Whenever  I  could  visit  the  Beth- 
mann  Museum,  near  the  New  Gate  (Neue  Thor),  I  went  there. 
It  contained  no  paintings  but  had  excellent  plaster  casts  of 
all  the  masterpieces  of  sculpture  then  known,  and  above  all 
the  charming  Ariadne  of  Dannecker  in  Carrara  marble.  In 
my  rather  extensive  travels  while  a  student,  I  never  failed  to 
visit  the  museums  and  picture  galleries,  as  for  instance  at 
Cassel,  Leipsic,  Berlin,  Munich,  Stuttgart,  and  Cologne.  No 
church  or  chateau,  celebrated  for  its  beauty  or  architecture, 
escaped  my  visit.  This  love  of  fine  arts  has  been  to  me  through 
life  a  constant  source  of  pleasure  and  deep  interest,  and  I 
should,  perhaps,  have  remained  as  unmoved  and  indifferent 
to  the  wonders  of  color  and  marble  as  many  of  my  friends, 
who  were  otherwise  highly  cultivated,  had  it  not  been  for 
this,  my  father's  ill-fated  venture  in  art. 

EARLY  TRAVELS  CONTINUED 

Bonn's  surroundings  are  very  beautiful.  We  visited  the 
old  Episcopal  Palace  (now  the  University  Building),  and 
the  Muenster  (Dom),  one  of  the  most  interesting  churches  in 
Germany,  founded  by  Helene,  mother  of  Constantine  the 
Great,  it  is  said. 

After  two  or  three  days  we  took  a  boat  for  Cologne.  The 
cathedral  there  was  not  nearly  finished.  Even  part  of  the 
inside  was  planked  up.  Yet  its  colossal  dimensions,  resplen- 
dent antique  painted  glass  windows,  the  rich  shrine  where  the 
skulls  of  the  three  oriental  kings  are  kept,  and  the  splendid 
altar-piece  by  some  old  German  master,  even  then  impressed 
me  most  forcibly.  I  have  seen  this  grand  piece  of  German 
architecture  repeatedly  since,  and  in  a  finished,  or  nearly  fin- 
ished state,  but  my  first  visit  to  it  is  equally  as  vivid  as  my 
last.  In  the  Church  of  St.  Peters  we  saw  the  celebrated 
painting  of  Rubens,  "The  Crucifixion  of  the  Saint,"  one 


EARLY  TRAVELS  57 

of  his  masterpieces  according  to  the  master's  own  opinion. 
We  visited  a  great  number  of  other  churches,  and  saw 
the  bones  of  the  11,000  virgins.  I  think  we  remained 
in  Cologne  four  or  five  days,  went  back  by  boat,  which 
was  drawn  up  stream  by  four  horses,  and  slept  one  night 
in  the  boat.  We  stopped  at  Neuwied,  visited  the  Herrn- 
huter  establishment,  saw  the  fine  collection  of  birds, 
butterflies  and  insects  brought  there  by  the  Prince  of 
Wied  from.  South  America;  stopped  at  Coblentz,  sent 
trunks  by  water  to  Frankfort,  then  crossed  over  to  Ehren- 
breitsein;  walked  eight  miles  over  the  mountains  down  to 
Ems  in  the  valley  of  the  Lahn,  a  guide  carrying  our  carpet 
bags.  We  stayed  in  Ems  at  the  Four  Towers,  with  the  Thilen- 
ius  family.  This  was  my  first  visit  to  Ems,  of  which  I  have, 
however,  but  little  recollection.  The  eight-mile  walk  was  con- 
sidered a  considerable  feat  by  my  parents  for  a  boy  of  eight. 
At  Ems,  father  hired  a  guide  and  two  donkeys,  one  for  mother 
and  one  for  me,  on  which  we  made  the  journey  to  Wiesbaden 
by  way  of  Schwalbach,  a  distance  of  about  twenty-five  miles. 
Occasionally  I  got  down  and  walked  a  few  miles  to  let  father 
ride.  From  Wiesbaden  we  went  home  by  coach. 

With  the  exception  of  several  excursions  with  father  and 
mother  to  Darmstadt,  Homburg  and  Wiesbaden,  I  do  not 
think  I  made  any  journey  again  with  my  parents  until  the 
year  1822.  But  that  was  a  most  delightful  one,  and  I  was 
then  of  an  age  when  I  could  better  appreciate  what  I  saw. 
We  went  by  water  to  Mayence,  took  a  coach  there,  and  went 
up  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  passing  Laubenheim  and  Nier- 
stein,  places  celebrated  for  their  excellent  wine,  stayed  all 
night  at  Oppenheim,  visited  the  Dom,  stayed  from  noon  till 
next  morning  at  Worms,  visited  the  remarkably  fine  Muenster 
(the  hall  where  Luther  appeared  before  the  Emperor  and 
Diet),  and  finally  visited  at  Frankenthal  an  intimate  friend 
of  my  family,  Mr.  Henry  Roeder,  a  man  of  considerable 
wealth,  the  possessor  of  a  very  fine  drug  store.  He  was  a 
well  educated  man,  and  professionally  trained.  He  lived  in 


58  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  main  street,  in  an  elegant  house,  and  had  an  interesting 
family,  and  amongst  others  a  fine  boy  of  my  age.  We  stayed 
there  nearly  a  week,  and  spent  a  most  happy  time. 

This  visit  came  very  near  being  a  turning  point  in 
my  career.  There  was  at  Frankenthal  an  academy,  pre- 
paratory to  the  colleges,  called  a  Pro-Gymnasium,  which 
was  said  to  be  a  very  good  institution.  Mr.  Roeder 
seemed  to  have  taken  a  liking  to  me,  and  he  proposed  to 
my  parents  putting  me  into  this  institute  instead  of  send- 
ing me  to  school  at  Frankfort.  He  said  that  with  what 
I  knew  already  I  could  get  through  the  academy  in  a 
couple  of  years,  and  that  then  he  would  take  me  as 
an  apprentice  in  his  pharmacy.  A  year  or  two  spent 
afterwards  at  a  University  would  put  me  in  the  ranks 
of  graduate  pharmacists,  who  were  then  in  much  demand,  re- 
ceived high  salaries,  and  could  in  the  course  of  time  become 
independent  proprietors.  Now  the  apothecaries  at  Frank- 
fort were  all  well-to-do  men  and  highly  respected,  and  as  I 
could  be  in  no  better  place  away  from  home  than  in  the  ex- 
cellent family  of  my  father's  friend,  the  proposal  seemed  to 
them  quite  acceptable.  But  I  demurred.  Compared  with 
Frankfort,  Frankenthal  was  rather  a  dull  place.  It  was  a 
mile  or  so  from  the  Rhine,  lay  in  a  sandy  alluvial  plain,  and 
had  no  fine  scenery  around  it.  Besides,  I  had,  from  reading 
a  great  deal  of  poetry  and  romance,  caught  rather  lofty  as- 
pirations, which  soared  above  the  ultimate  ownership  of  a 
pharmacy.  So  Mr.  Roeder 's  proposal  came  to  nothing. 

From  Frankenthal  we  made  excursions  to  the  village  of 
Forst,  visiting  father's  old  friend  Mr.  Wehrle,  father  of  the 
young  man  whose  unfortunate  encounter  with  the  French 
guardes  d'  honneur  I  have  already  related.  We  stayed  with 
him,  and  he  took  us  through  his  fine  vineyards,  where,  it  be- 
ing vintage  time,  we  ate  to  our  heart's  content  of  a  delicious 
kind  of  grape  which  Mr.  Wehrle  picked  for  us  as  the  ripest 
and  sweetest.  From  Forst  we  went  to  Duerkheim,  at  the  foot 
of  the  Haardt  Mountains,  beautifully  situated.  We  stayed  with 


EARLY  TRAVELS  59 

Mr.  William  Roeder,  a  brother  of  Henry,  who  also  had  a 
drug  store.  The  scenery  around  Duerkheim  is  most  pictur- 
esque, particularly  the  valley  in  which  the  ruins  of  the  Lim- 
burg  Abbey,  an  excellent  piece  of  Gothic  architecture,  are 
situated. 

In  1824,  during  Easter  vacation,  I  visited  Kreuznach 
again.  It  was  the  first  time  that  I  took  so  long  a  trip  by  my- 
self. I  felt  very  proud  of  it.  I  went  by  water  to  Mayence, 
took  the  "yacht"  to  Bingen,  and  dined  at  the  celebrated 
White  Horse  Hotel,  situated  on  the  very  banks  of  the  Rhine, 
with  a  splendid  view  of  Ruedesheim,  Ehrenfels,  Niederwald, 
and  Assmannshausen  on  the  farther  shore,  and  then  —  and, 
I  believe,  for  many  years  afterwards,  —  kept  by  that  prince 
of  hotel-keepers,  Mr.  Soherr.  After  dinner  I  put  my  knap- 
sack on  my  shoulders  and  walked  by  the  river  Nahe  to  be- 
loved Kreuznach.  My  sister  Pauline  was  there  on  a  visit. 
We  had  a  delightful  time ;  went  on  a  half  dozen  picnic  parties 
to  the  most  romantic  environs  of  the  town;  and  visited  the 
old  chateau.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  I  believe,  I  made 
a  trip  to  Ems,  but  took  a  circuitous  route  by  water  to  May- 
ence or  rather  to  Cassel,  the  tete  de  pont  of  Mayence,  from 
there  to  Erbach  in  the  Rheingau,  between  Rauhenthal  and 
Markobrunn,  (names  that  make  the  mouth  of  any  connoisseur 
of  wine,  water,)  where  I  met  by  appointment  my  friend 
Ernest  Thilenius  who  had  stayed  with  a  relative,  Mr.  Beck, 
a  rich  owner  of  vineyards.  Both  of  us,  with  a  son  of  Mr. 
Beck,  then  footed  it  over  a  pretty  rough  spur  of  the  Taunus 
Mountains,  a  distance  of  at  least  twenty-five  miles,  tp  Ems, 
which  we  reached  pretty  well  worn-out,  —  a  very  hard  day 's 
walk,  considering  that  the  first  half  of  it  was  on  a  rough 
foot-path  over  steep  hills.  I  need  not  say  what  a  splendid 
time  we  had  at  the  Four  Towers.  It  being  vacation  time,  all 
the  boys  were  at  home.  We  had  ponies  and  donkeys  always 
at  our  disposition,  and  visited  Nassau  and  the  chateau  of  the 
Baron  of  Stein  on  the  Lahn.  I  returned  by  myself  by  way 
of  Schwalbach  and  Wiesbaden,  stopping  at  our  friends',  the 


60  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Fliedners.  The  tour  from  Ems  to  Wiesbaden,  about  thirty 
miles,  I  made  in  one  day,  with  a  pretty  heavy  knapsack  on  my 
back. 

On  this  trip  I  met  with  an  adventure,  which,  considering 
my  age  (about  14),  was  not  altogether  pleasant,  and  for  a  lit- 
tle while  gave  us  a  good  deal  of  anxiety. 

I  left  Cassel  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  taking  the 
highway  to  Biberich,  about  six  miles  distant,  where  I  intended 
to  stay  over  night.  A  few  hundred  yards  from  the  gate  I  dis- 
covered a  very  nice  foot-path  leading  towards  the  Rhine,  which 
I  preferred  taking,  as  the  highway  was  very  much  traveled 
and  quite  dusty.  After  about  a  mile  the  path  took  the  direc- 
tion again  of  the  main  road,  and  where  it  struck  it  there  was 
a  guard-house,  with  an  Austrian  soldier  standing  guard. 
When  he  saw  me  he  cried  out  "Halt,"  holding  his  musket 
across  the  path.  I  asked  him  why  he  stopped  me.  "Don't 
you  see  this!"  he  said,  pointing  to  a  low  post  on  which  was 
fixed  a  large  sign-board.  "Yes,  I  see  it,"  I  replied.  "And 
don't  you  see  that  this  path  is  forbidden!"  "No!"  said  I, 
"I  don't  see  it."  The  inscription,  "Forbidden  Way,"  was 
on  the  outside  towards  the  highway,  so  that  nobody  that  came 
the  way  I  came  could  see  it.  "Well,"  said  I,  "that  may  be 
so,  but  where  I  came  in  there  was  no  sign,  and  of  course  I  did 
not  know  that  I  was  doing  anything  wrong."  The  soldier, 
however,  called  for  the  sergeant  or  corporal.  When  he  came 
up,  I  explained  matters  to  him ;  but  he  said  that  it  was  all  the 
same  to  him;  he  must  send  me  back  to  the  main  guard-house 
at  Cassel.  He  went  in  and  made  out  a  report  in  writing, 
handed  it  to  a  soldier  who  shouldered  his  musket  and  marched 
me  back.  All  the  conversation  on  the  part  of  the  soldiers  had 
been  held  in  the  broad  Austrian  dialect;  and  I  did  not  know 
what  would  be  done  with  me:  whether  I  was  to  be  put  in 
prison  or  fined,  in  which  latter  case  a  considerable  inroad 
would  be  made  on  my  means  of  travel.  I  took  good  care, 
however,  to  make  my  escort,  when  we  came  to  the  place 
where  I  had  entered  the  foot-path,  see  whether  there  was 


EARLY  TRAVELS  61 

anything  to  show  that  it  was  a  forbidden  way.  Finally,  we 
reached  the  grand  guard-house  within  the  fort ;  I  was  handed 
in:  and  the  soldier  delivered  the  report  to  a  young  officer, 
probably  a  lieutenant.  Although  I  felt  very  bad  and  my 
heart  beat  quickly,  I  was  enough  of  a  Frankfort  boy  to  put 
on  a  stiff  air.  He  asked  my  name,  place  of  residence,  and 
where  I  was  going,  and  so  on,  and  seemed  himself  surprised 
when  the  soldier  told  him,  as  I  did,  that  there  was  nothing  to 
warn  me  off.  He  said  it  was  a  damned  piece  of  "Eselei," 
declared  I  ought  to  have  considered  that  I  was  still  in  the 
fortification,  and  wished  me  a  happy  journey,  whereupon  I 
started  off  greatly  relieved. 

About  the  same  time,  during  a  short  mid-summer  vaca- 
tion, I  made  a  most  delightful  run  through  the  Taunus  Moun- 
tains with  my  friend,  Henry  Hoffmann  (Struwwelpeter),  and 
Clemens  and  Behr,  my  classmates.  Leaving  the  city  in  the 
afternoon,  we  got  to  Cronberg  in  the  evening,  where  we 
found  only  one  miserable  tavern,  with  the  beds  already  occu- 
pied by  tourists,  so  that  as  a  last  resort  we  had  to  get  the  land- 
lord to  spread  for  us  some  bunches  of  fresh  straw  on  the  floor 
of  the  common  drinking-room.  The  straw  was  then  covered 
with  a  sheet,  and  some  pillows  were  furnished.  At  two  in 
the  morning  our  guide  woke  us  up,  and  we  marched  by  the 
old  castle  of  Falkenstein  to  the  top  of  the  Feldberg  (about 
3,000  feet)  to  see  the  sun  rise.  We  got  there  just  at  day- 
break, and,  as  is  usual  at  that  time,  a  strong  breeze  came  up, 
and,  sitting  on  a  granite  ledge  of  rock,  called  the  Brunhilde- 
stein,  we  felt  most  uncomfortably  cold.  We  saw  the  sun  rise, 
and  obtained  a  fine  view  of  Frankfort,  and  of  the  towns  and 
villages  surrounding  it;  of  Mayence  and  of  the  Donnersberg, 
that  highest  peak  of  the  Haardt  Mountains ;  and  of  the  beau- 
tiful range  called  the  Bergstrasse.  But  a  slight  mist  shut  out 
the  more  distant  sights,  so  that  we  did  not  see  the  whole  pan- 
orama, which  is  said  to  be  the  finest  in  Germany,  including, 
as  it  does,  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  upper  Rhine,  Oppen- 


62  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

heim,  Worms,  Mannheim,  Speyer,  and  in  very  clear  weather 
even  the  towers  of  the  Strassburg  Cathedral. 

From  the  Feldberg,  we  reached,  through  beautiful  val- 
leys, the  castle  of  Eppstein,  one  of  the  largest  ruins  of  Ger- 
many. It  belonged  to  a  distinguished  race  of  Knights,  some 
of  whom  had  been  Archbishops  of  Mayence,  and  another  a 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  Eppstein,  the  village,  stands  at  the 
junction  of  three  most  picturesque  valleys,  with  clear  trout 
brooks  rushing  through  them.  It  is  one  of  the  most  wildly 
romantic  spots  in  Germany.  I  went  there  often  as  a  child 
with  my  parents. 

We  stopped  at  the  water-mill,  the  proprietor  of  which 
keeps  an  inn,  the  table  d'hote  of  which  has  a  great  reputation. 
On  Sundays,  hundreds  of  people  from  Frankfort,  Wiesbaden, 
and  neighboring  towns,  resort  there,  where  they  find  always 
the  best  of  fish,  crabs,  and  excellent  venison.  The  venison 
came  from  the  roe,  which  is  not  as  large  as  the  American  deer, 
but  the  flesh  of  which  is  more  tender  and  savory.  I  think  we 
stayed  at  the  mill  over  night;  then  traveled  across  pretty 
high  mountains  to  Sonnenberg,  a  fine  old  ruin ;  and  went  thence 
to  Wiesbaden.  As  this  latter  place  was  well  known  to  us,  we 
did  not  stay  there  long,  but  took  dinner  at  the  Kursaal  and 
marched  homeward  through  Hofheim  to  Frankfort,  by  way 
of  Bad  Soden  and  Roedelheim.  We  were  a  gay  set,  and 
amused  ourselves  in  various  ways,  singing  a  hundred  songs 
while  marching.  We  had  spent  all  our  money,  and  fortu- 
nately came  to  the  gates  of  Frankfort  before  they  were  closed. 
Otherwise  we  should  not  have  known  what  to  do;  since  at 
that  time,  and  for  many  years  later,  the  gates  were  closed  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  summer,  and  earlier  in  the  winter;  and 
after  they  were  closed  a  toll  had  to  be  paid  for  entrance.  It 
was  four  kreutzers,  or  about  one  and  one-half  cents  per  head. 
This  levying  of  a  toll  might  have  been  all  right  as  long  as 
Frankfort  was  a  fortress,  but  it  was  a  piece  of  nonsense  to  con- 
tinue it  after  it  became  an  open  place. 


EARLY  TRAVELS  63 

In  the  Easter  vacation  of  1827  I  went  to  Worms,  at  the 
invitation  of  a  college  friend,  Edward  Graf,  and  spent  some 
days  at  his  father's  house,  the  pastor  of  the  principal  church. 
I  felt  very  much  at  home  there.  He  had  two  lovely  sisters, 
also.  Graf  was  a  handsome  youth,  full  of  life  and  inclined 
to  be  wild.  He  was  very  bright,  and  in  some  branches  a  very 
good  scholar.  He  went  after  college  to  the  University  of 
Giessen,  so  that  we  did  not  meet  again  while  I  was  in  Ger- 
many. As  he  came  afterwards  to  the  United  States,  I  may 
have  to  speak  of  him  again. 

From  Worms  I  took  my  way  to  Heidelberg,  where  I 
stayed  with  a  student  from  Frankfort.  He  took  me  to  the 
fencing-rooms,  and  to  the  club-house  of  the  Burschenschaft 
every  evening;  so  that  I  got  quite  well  acquainted  with  stu- 
dent-life and  the  rules  they  live  by  (Studenten-Comment). 
Unluckily  the  weather  was  bad.  It  rained  half  the  time,  and 
when  it  did  not  rain,  a  high  wind  blew  from  the  vast  Rhine 
plain  into  the  narrow  valley  of  the  Neckar,  where  Heidelberg 
stands.  I  did  not  then  see  very  much  of  the  wonderful  scen- 
ery about  the  famous  University. 

Shortly  after  my  return  from  Heidelberg,  I  was  taken 
down  with  a  bilious  typhoid  fever,  which  I  had  undoubtedly 
contracted  during  my  stay  at  Heidelberg,  and  for  a  few  days 
my  condition  was  considered  very  dangerous.  By  the  most 
careful  nursing  I  recovered;  but  it  was  months  before  I  was 
able  to  drive  out.  Brother  Charles,  who  had  sat  up  with  me 
many  nights,  was  prostrated  with  the  same  disease,  but  not 
to  such  a  degree  as  I  was.  In  the  fall  it  was  thought  that 
travelling  would  complete  the  re-establishment  of  my  health. 
I  got  Henry  Hoffmann  to  join  me,  and  we  went  to  Kreuznach, 
taking  the  boat  to  Bingen.  We  had  a  most  joyful  time  at 
Kreuznach;  Hoffmann  delighting  our  friends  there  with  his 
humor  and  wit.  We  visited  all  the  romantic  places  in  the 
neighborhood  in  company  with  college  friends,  and  we  had 
frequently  pretty  and  interesting  girls  with  us.  Hoffmann 
had  never  been  away  from  home  much,  and  he  overflowed 


64      MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

with  vivacity.  We  also  did  justice  to  the  good  wines  of  the 
Palatinate,  which  beyond  the  Prussian  frontier  were  very 
cheap.  We  went  back  to  Bingen,  and  there  took  the  steam- 
boat Frederick  William  III  on  one  of  her  first  trips  on  the 
Rhine ;  it  was  the  first  steamer  we  ever  saw.  We  went  up  the 
Rhine  valley  to  Coblentz,  Bonn,  and  finally  to  Cologne,  where 
we  spent  several  days  visiting  the  many  churches,  picture  gal- 
leries and  museums.  Returning,  we  stopped  at  Coblentz,  and 
of  course  went  over  to  Ems,  where  we  spent  some  days  with 
the  Thilenius  family,  which  stay  Hoffmann  considered  as  the 
crowning  triumph  of  our  journey.  He  was  everywhere  re- 
ceived as  a  friend.  Via  Schwalbach,  we  reached  Wiesbaden, 
where  he  also  stayed  with  me  at  the  Fliedners,  a  family  with 
whom  we  were  intimately  befriended. 

Theodore  Fliedner,  who  had  been  a  teacher  at  the  Wies- 
baden Lyceum,  became  afterwards  the  founder  of  the  Insti- 
tute for  Deaconesses  at  Kaiserswerth.  He  had  been  often  in 
England,  whence  he  derived  much  patronage  for  his  establish- 
ment, and  became  much  noted  as  a  gentleman  of  learning  and 
piety.  In  1849,  he  went  to  the  United  States,  where  he  found- 
ed a  similar  institution  at  Pittsburg.  He  also  visited  Jerusa- 
lem in  the  interest  of  the  British-German  Protestant  Bishop- 
ric; and  founded  in  many  places  institutions  similar  to  that 
of  Kaiserswerth,  as  well  as  hospitals  and  orphan  asylums.  He 
was  also  the  author  of  various  theological  works.  The  whole 
Fliedner  family  were  very  pious  people,  mother,  sons  and 
daughters;  yet  they  were  not  puritanical,  and  not  averse  to 
innocent  amusements;  and,  although  we  were  considered  by 
them  as  rather  too  free-thinking,  yet  our  mutual  visits  were 
always  highly  agreeable.  Theodore  was  some  ten  years  older 
than  myself,  and  I  did  not  know  him  as  well  as  I  did  some  of 
his  brothers  and  sisters,  though  sufficiently  to  like  him  as  a 
kind,  industrious,  and  thoroughly  upright  young  man. 

A  Pastor  Fliedner,  a  son  of  Theodore,  followed  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  father.  He  worked  as  a  missionary  in  Spain. 
After  great  efforts  he  formed  Protestant  congregations  at 


EARLY  TRAVELS  65 

Madrid,  Granada,  and  other  places  in  Spain,  and  obtained 
permission  to  open  a  chapel  where  he  performed  services  in 
both  English  and  German.  He  also  founded  an  Orphan 
Asylum  and  Hospital  for  Protestants  in  Madrid.  Thereto- 
fore, such  a  thing  was  unheard  of  in  Spain.  Now  and  then 
some  English  clergyman  held  religious  services  in  the  homes 
of  the  English  Legation,  where  the  English  Minister  would 
invite  Protestants  to  attend,  and  where  none  were  admitted 
unless  so  invited;  but  this  was  only  a  diplomatic  privilege. 
There  was  also  at  my  time  a  Protestant  cemetery  at  Madrid, 
which  was,  however,  supported  only  by  the  English,  American, 
Prussian  and  other  Protestant  legations,  and  was  considered 
exterritorial  to  Spain. 

Before  I  left  for  the  University,  I  went  again  to  Heidel- 
berg in  1828  with  Henry  Hoffmann,  Balthasar  Hoffmann,  and 
another  college  friend  whose  name  I  have  forgotten.  We  took 
a  circuitous  route.  We  ascended  the  Melibocus,  and  pass- 
ing the  "Sea  of  Rocks,"  a  mountain  plain  covered  with  im- 
mense granite  boulders  (Giant  Altar,  Giant  Column)  and 
small  loose  syenite  rocks,  we  entered  the  Odenwald  and  through 
wild  valleys  reached  Erbach  at  night.  This  place  is  cele- 
brated for  the  fine  large  chateau  of  the  counts  of  Erbach,  in 
which  is  a  much  admired  armory.  It  is  not  near  as  rich  as 
the  Great  Armoria  in  Madrid,  yet  interesting  enough  to  de- 
serve and  to  receive  many  a  visit.  There  are,  for  instance, 
full  sets  of  armor,  some  arranged  on  horseback,  others  on  foot, 
of  Philip  the  Good,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  of  Emperor  Max- 
imilian the  First,  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  of  Wallenstein. 
There  are  pieces  of  the  armor  of  Franz  von  Sickingen,  Goetz 
von  Berlichingen,  and  other  curiosities,  such  as  ancient  fire- 
arms, the  coffin  of  Eginhard  (secretary  and  son-in-law  of 
Charlemagne)  and  his  wife  Emma. 

Going  from  Erbach,  mostly  through  beautiful  timber,  we 
struck  a  wild  road,  by  which  we  reached  the  Neckar  at  Hirsch- 
horn  above  Heidelberg,  and  travelled  down  the  banks  of  the 
river  to  that  place.  We  had  a  great  many  friends  there  who 


66  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

had  been  college  chums,  and  spent  some  glorious  days  among 
the  Burschenschaft.  We  wore  the  German  colors,  black,  red 
and  gold,  on  our  caps,  and  since  we  were  all  soon  to  leave 
college  to  go  to  the  University,  we  were  treated  almost  as 
students.  We  went  to  see  a  couple  of  duels  at  the  celebrated 
Hirschgasse,  and  in  fact  drank  and  sang  with  the  crowd  like 
old  "Burschen."  Needless  to  say,  that  we  parted  from  our 
friends  with  great  regret,  and  that  this  my  last  journey  while 
at  Frankfort  is  still  one  of  the  most  agreeable  recollections 
of  my  college  days. 

LAST   DAYS   IN   FRANKFORT 

I  left  the  college  (Gymnasium)  in  the  spring  of  1828, 
but  did  not  go  to  the  University  till  the  fall  of  that  year. 
My  time  was  employed  in  studying  the  ancient  classics  under 
private  teachers.  One  Dr.  Textor,  a  cousin  of  Goethe,  con- 
ducted my  Latin  lessons.  We  went  through  Horace's  satires 
and  epistles  in  a  different  style  from  that  at  college.  He  was 
an  excellent  scholar  and  his  explanations  were  highly  interest- 
ing. It  was  a  pleasure  to  read  with  him.  He  was  an  orig- 
inal. Of  gigantic  stature,  his  appearance  was  very  disagree- 
able, almost  repellent.  He  had  run  himself  down  by  hard 
drinking,  and  his  face  showed  the  marks  of  it.  Being  a  man 
of  natural  genius  and  of  vast  learning,  besides  belonging  to 
a  patrician  family,  he  might  have  filled  the  highest  station  as 
a  professor  at  a  university  or  college;  but  his  unfortunate 
habits  had  made  this  impossible  for  him.  His  means,  if  he 
ever  had  had  any,  he  certainly  had  wasted,  and  for  many 
years  before  I  knew  him  he  eked  out  a  precarious  existence 
by  teaching  Greek  and  Latin.  He  dressed  most  shabbily,  and 
whether  he  wore  shirt  or  undershirt  could  never  be  discovered, 
for  he  always  wore  his  coat  buttoned  up  to  his  chin.  Shirt 
collars  and  neckties  he  never  wore.  He  was  some  sixty  years 
of  age  when  he  gave  me  lessons.  Everybody  knew  old  Dr. 
Textor,  for  when  he  walked  through  the  streets  in  his  vaga- 
bond attire,  holding  under  his  left  arm  a  half  dozen  antique 


EARLY  TRAVELS  67 

books  held  together  by  a  strap,  and  wielding  with  his  right 
hand  a  tremendous  oaken  stick,  he  could  not  but  attract  the 
attention  of  all  passers-by. 

With  a  young  philologist,  a  friend  of  brother  Charles,  I 
went  through  some  dramas  of  Sophocles.  At  college,  in  the 
same  time,  I  should  not  have  gotten  through  more  than  a 
dozen  pages  of  one  tragedy.  I  read  a  great  deal  of  history, 
as  well  as  novels  in  German  and  French,  and  much  of  my 
poetical  scribbling  was  done  during  that  summer. 

I  must  not  omit  speaking  of  a  little  love  affair  or  rather 
the  beginning  of  one,  which  took  place  during  this  last  sum- 
mer that  I  lived  in  Frankfort..  We  resided  on  the  second 
and  third  floors  of  a  large  house,  to  which  belonged  a  garden, 
not  very  large,  but  well  kept,  with  fine  flowers,  groups  of 
trees  and  arbors.  The  ground  floor  was  occupied  by  a  Rus- 
sian family,  a  mother,  a  daughter  Sophia,  about  18,  and  two 
smaller  children,  a  boy  called  Sasha  (Alexander)  and  a  girl 
Masha  (Maria).  Their  father,  a  native  of  Frankfort,  was  a 
banker  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  their  mother  a  Russian,  who 
on  account  of  frail  health,  had  been  sent  to  Frankfort  with 
the  children,  and  had  been  there  about  a  year  when  I  became 
acquainted  with  them.  My  mother  and  sisters  had  frequent- 
ly rendered  assistance  to  the  old  lady  in  her  attacks  of  sick- 
ness, and  of  course  we  all  became  well  acquainted  with  the 
family.  Sasha  was  a  fine  boy,  and  I  petted  him.  Sophia 
was  not  wondrously  beautiful,  but  very  handsome  and  grace- 
ful, and  of  course  somewhat  different  in  manner  and  conduct 
from  German  girls,  which  trait  gave  her  a  peculiar  interest, 
at  least  in  my  eyes.  After  sundown  when  the  coolness  of  the 
evening  made  walks  in  the  garden  pleasant,  we  would  fre- 
quently meet,  sometimes  in  company  with  other  members  of 
our  family,  sometimes  alone.  She  spoke  German  admirably, 
and  I  gave  her  some  of  my  books  to  read :  Uhland  's,  Heine 's, 
and  Schiller's  poems,  —  for  which  she  appeared  to  be  very 
grateful.  Of  course  I  said  many  sweet  things  to  her,  to  which 
she  made  no  objection.  Briefly,  I  had  just  begun  to  fall  in 


68  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

love  with  her,  when  the  family  was  called  back  to  Peters- 
burg. When  the  carriage  came  to  the  door  to  take  the  fam- 
ily to  the  station  (the  stage  was  to  take  them  to  Luebeck),  we 
were  all  in  the  hall  below  to  bid  them  adieu.  She  shook  hands 
with  all  of  my  family,  but  me  she  took  by  both  hands ;  ' '  Fare- 
well—  Farewell!"  she  faltered,  with  her  eyes  clouded  by 
pearly  tears.  For  the  first  time  it  dawned  upon  me  that  she 
had  really  come  to  like  me,  and  I  for  the  first  time  felt  that 
I  had  actually  come  to  love  her.  As  it  was,  I  fell  into  a  deep 
melancholy  for  some  time.  The  song  of  mine  beginning, 
"Feme  hist  du  hingezogen,"  and  various  sonnets,  prove  what 
I  felt.  And  I  may  say  here  that  I  never  wrote  a  verse  that 
was  not  the  expression  of  something  that  actually  happened 
or  that  I  actually  felt.  The  verses  have  no  merit,  but  they 
are  true  confessions  of  the  momentary  moods  which  possessed 
me. 

Casting  a  retrospective  glance  upon  this  my  early  youth 
and  summing  up  the  phases  through  which  my  life  had  passed 
I  cannot  say  that  it  was  all  sunshine. 

"Des  Lebens  ungemischte  Freude 
Wird  keinem  Sterblichen  zu  Theil." 

The  early  decay  of  my  sister  Augusta's  health  was  a 
constant  source  of  anxiety  and  sorrow  to  us  all.  The  many 
ups  and  downs  in  my  brother  Fritz's  life,  and  his  tragic 
death,  the  loss  of  Theodore,  whom  I  loved  unspeakably,  the 
ill  success  of  my  father  in  his  once  so  prosperous  business, 
which  straitened  our  circumstances,  affected  his  health,  and 
embittered  his  last  years,  could  not  fail  to  darken  many  hours 
of  my  life.  But  take  it  all  in  all,  I  should  be  ungrateful  to 
fate,  did  I  not  acknowledge  that  my  youth  had  been  a  happy 
one  in  many  respects.  My  parents  were  respected  and  loved 
by  all  who  knew  them.  In  the  family  itself,  there  never  was 
any  discord.  I  saw  the  light  of  day  at  a  most  interesting 
time,  when  Europe  was  convulsed  by  war,  and  when  at  last 
the  fate  of  the  world  was  decided  on  the  great  battle  fields  of 


EARLY  TRAVELS  69 

Leipsic  and  Waterloo.  The  German  people  were  still  moved 
by  the  inspirations  which  had  brought  about  the  war  of  libera- 
tion; and  the  on-coming  generation  lived  for  some  time  after 
peace  was  restored  in  an  ideal  world,  full  of  hope  and  proud 
of  their  fatherland.  I  was  a  native  of  the  free  city  of  Frank- 
fort, of  which  it  has  been  said  that  every  paving  stone  has  a 
history.  Its  burghers  had  governed  themselves  for  centuries, 
boasted  of  their  spirit  of  independence,  and  had  very  little 
respect  for  kings  and  princes. 

I  had  from  early  youth  unlimited  access  to  books  and 
an  opportunity  to  make  myself  familiar  with  the  treasures 
of  literature.  The  social  relations  of  our  family  were  such 
as  to  make  us  acquainted  with  many  cultivated  and  interest- 
ing people.  There  was  almost  a  constant  exchange  of  visits 
between  us  and  our  friends  outside  of  Frankfort.  Consid- 
ering the  times,  I  had  traveled  much,  had  seen  much  to  excite 
my  imagination.  The  consequence  was  that  I  never  when 
alone  felt  anything  like  ennui,  which  I  think  is  a  great 
blessing.  My  friends  at  school  and  college  were  most  all  of 
them  sons  of  educated  and  highly  respectable  people  and 
consequently  well-mannered.  I  was  not  always  the  first  in 
my  class.  I  was  not  ambitious  enough  for  that,  nor  industrious 
enough ;  and,  besides,  some  of  my  classmates  were  much  more 
gifted  than  I.  In  fact,  I  got  more  credit  from  teachers  and 
fellow  collegians  than  I  deserved,  —  why,  I  really  do  not  know. 
In  our  games,  however,  and  on  excursions,  I  generally  was 
made  leader,  by  a  sort  of  silent  consent.  I  never  had  any 
serious  quarrel  with  my  companions,  though  I  sometimes  was 
a  little  high-tempered,  —  a  paternal  inheritance.  Add  to  this, 
that  I  was  generally  in  very  good  health  and  strong,  and  it 
would  be  very  unjust  indeed  if  I  were  not  to  call  my  youth 
a  happy  one. 


CHAPTER  IV 

University-Life  —  Jena 

"Freiheit,  in  uns  erwacht, 
1st  deine  Geistermacht, 
Dein  Reich,  genaht? 
Gliihend  fiir  Wissenshaft, 
Bliihend  in  Jugendkraft, 
Sei  Deutschlands  Bursehenschaft 
Ein  Bruderstaat. " 

—  Karl  Pollen 

It  had  been  decided  that  I  should  study  law.  Heidelberg 
was  the  usual  place  for  Frankfort  students  to  go  to.  But 
there  were  objections  to  it.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  a  com- 
paratively expensive  place.  Giessen,  Marburg,  Erlangen, 
Jena,  were  less  expensive,  and  our  means  at  the  time  were 
limited.  But  my  principal  reason  for  not  going  there  was 
that,  toward  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1828,  Heidelberg  had 
been  interdicted  or  "boycotted,"  as  the  present  term  is,  by 
the  great  body  of  German  students,  and  particularly  by  the 
Bursehenschaft  societies.  A  new  club,  called  the  ' '  Museum, ' ' 
had  been  formed,  to  which  all  the  professors  and  government 
officials  belonged,  but  from  which  the  students  were  excluded 
by  the  constitution.  All  negotiations  to  remedy  this  matter 
failed,  and  so  the  students'  societies  with  one  accord  resolved 
to  leave  Heidelberg,  and  to  call  upon  the  associations  all  over 
Germany  to  avoid  the  place  for  three  years. 

According  to  German  usage,  students  who  would  not 
obey  the  interdict  were  declared  incompetent  to  demand  satis- 
faction in  duels  for  insults  offered,  and  could  not  enter  any 
student's  rooms  at  any  other  University  if  they  had  been  at 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  71 

Heidelberg  within  the  three  years.  Some  three  hundred  stu- 
dents, indeed,  nearly  all  who  were  not  citizens  of  Baden, 
(who  by  law  were  compelled  to  study  some  period  at  the  State 
University,)  left  in  a  body,  and  assembled  some  five  miles  off 
at  a  town  near  the  bank  of  the  Rhine.  From  that  place  nego- 
tiations were  again  tried;  and,  though  the  inhabitants  of 
Heidelberg,  generally,  did  not  like  to  see  the  University  aban- 
doned by  those  who  spent  so  much  money  there,  still  the 
aristocratic  class  would  not  yield,  and  the  interdict  conse- 
quently remained  valid  for  three  years.  I  did  not  like  to 
be  outlawed.  Besides,  all  the  friends  I  had  there,  and  all  the 
members  of  the  Burschenschaft,  (which  society  I  would  nat- 
urally join,  as  it  was  the  party  that  was  imbued  with  the  idea 
of  the  liberty  and  unity  of  Germany,)  had  left,  and  I  should 
have  had  a  sorry  time  of  it  if  in  this  dilemma  I  had  selected 
Heidelberg  as  my  University. 

Jena,  just  at  that  time,  had  some  very  eminent  professors 
in  the  law-faculty;  as,  Dr.  Zimmern,  who  had  made  himself 
a  great  reputation  as  a  lecturer  on  Roman  law  in  Heidelberg, 
before  he  was  called  to  Jena ;  Professor  Martin,  who  was  con- 
sidered at  the  head  of  teachers  of  German  civil  and  criminal 
law  and  the  law  of  practical  procedure;  Professor  Hencke, 
who  was  a  high  authority  on  medical  jurisprudence;  and 
Professor  Von  Schroeder,  an  eminent  Pandectist.  There 
were,  besides,  Professor  Fries,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
followers  of  Kant,  and  Professor  Henry  Luden,  the  great 
historian.  So  Jena  was  chosen. 

TO  JENA  BY  STAGE-COACH. 

The  day  of  departure  came.  For  that  time  the  distance 
from  Frankfort  to  Jena  was  considered  great,  being  about  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles.  Coaches  ran  pretty  regularly 
between  Frankfort  and  Leipsic  via  Weimar,  which  is  only 
twelve  miles  from  Jena.  Such  a  coach  had  been  advertised 
from  Geneva  to  arrive  on  a  certain  day  at  the  White  Swan, 
and  to  have  room  for  one  or  more  passengers  for  Leipsie, 


72  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Berlin,  or  Breslau.  Father  bespoke  a  place.  When  it  ar- 
rived, we  went  to  take  a  look  at  it.  It  was  a  large,  wide 
vehicle,  something  after  the  fashion  of  the  large  English  trav- 
eling coaches.  In  front  was  a  covered  seat,  a  sort  of  a  coupe 
for  the  conductor  and  the  driver.  At  the  back  was  a  large 
boot,  which  would  hold  half  a  dozen  trunks.  Four  passengers 
had  come  in  it,  whom  we  did  not  then  see,  for  they  had  taken 
lodgings  in  a  hotel.  It  was  to  be  drawn  by  three  horses.  The 
seats  were  really  wide  enough  for  three  persons,  so  that  five 
could  be  quite  comfortably  seated.  The  fare  was  settled. 
Next  day  at  noon  this  rather  extraordinary  conveyance  was  to 
start. 

I  parted  from  mother  and  sisters  with  a  heavy  heart, 
seeing  how  much  they  were  affected.  Jena  had  the  reputation 
of  being  a  pretty  wild  place,  duels  being  fought  there  with  the 
small  sword,  a  dangerous  weapon.  But  I  said  I  would  avoid 
fighting  duels  anyway;  and,  besides,  it  had  to  be  considered 
that  just  on  account  of  this  dangerous  mode  of  dueling,  duels 
were  much  less  frequent  there  than  at  any  other  University. 
Father  and  brother  Charles  went  with  me  to  the  White  Swan. 
We  had  a  parting  cup  of  wine ;  the  coach  ready  to  start  was 
waiting  in  the  yard.  It  came  out,  and  what  should  I  see! 
It  was  occupied  by  four  well-dressed  ladies,  one  of  canonical 
age,  chaperoning  the  other  three,  who  were  all  young,  prob- 
ably between  twenty  and  twenty-five  years  of  age,  two  of 
them  quite  handsome  and  one  really  beautiful,  all  looking 
very  ladylike.  Father,  brother  and  I  started  back  with  sur- 
prise; but  I  had  to  enter  at  once.  Three  of  the  ladies  had 
taken  the  back  seat,  while  the  youngest  and  prettiest,  Henri- 
etta Maddens,  occupied  the  front  seat,  on  which  I  had  to  take 
my  place.  If  I  felt  embarrassed,  how  must  the  girl  have  felt ! 
They  had  come  all  the  way  from  Geneva  by  themselves,  and 
in  undisturbed  comfort,  and  now  a  young  stranger  was  forced 
upon  them,  wearing  a  little  student-cap  on  his  head,  and  a 
short  black  frock-coat,  with  one  row  of  buttons  only  (the  so- 
called  German  coat  much  in  fashion  then  among  the  Burschen- 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  73 

schaft),  with  the  shirt  collar  turned  down  over  the  small  coat 
collar,  and  no  necktie,  —  and  in  one  hand  a  large  German 
pipe  with  tassels  in  the  national  colors.  And  when  I  was  in, 
brother  Carl  handed  to  the  conductor  a  fine  cavalry  sword, 
which  father  had  given  me.  The  ladies  were  certainly  very 
disagreeably  surprised,  but  so  well-bred  that  they  showed  it 
as  little  as  possible. 

The  old  lady  looked  very  suspiciously  at  my  pipe.  I  had 
discovered,  however,  at  once  that  they  were  French  ladies, 
and  so  I  assured  them  in  their  own  language  that  they  need 
not  believe  for  a  moment  that  I  would  smoke  in  their  presence, 
but  that  when  I  felt  like  it,  I  would  take  a  seat  with  the  con- 
ductor and  driver.  It  was  not  long  before  there  were  mutual 
explanations.  I  was  just  about  to  become  a  student  at  Jena 
near  Weimar;  was  delighted  at  having  such  pleasant  com- 
pany ;  and  the  elderly  lady  informed  me  that  she  was  a  teacher 
at  a  ladies'  boarding-school  at  Breslau,  had  been  in  Germany 
several  years  and  spoke  German  perfectly  well;  had  been 
charged  by  various  noble  families  to  engage  governesses  from 
French  Switzerland ;  that  she  herself  was  a  native  of  Geneva ; 
two  of  the  other  ladies  were  from  Lausanne;  and  one,  my 
neighbor,  from  Vevey;  and  that  they  had  all  been  educated 
as  teachers.  As  I  spoke  their  language  pretty  fluently,  it  was 
not  very  long  before  we  became  good  friends,  and  certainly 
I  could  not  have  had  better  company  unless  they  had  been 
so  many  German  students.  I  was  necessarily  put  on  my 
best  behavior.  We  went  about  fifteen  miles  that  evening,  and 
stopped  at  an  indiiferent  tavern.  As  the  horses  were  not 
changed,  we  moved  very  slowly,  and  did  not  reach  Eisenach 
before  the  morning  of  the  second  day.  There  we  arranged 
for  a  longer  stay,  as  we  were  desirous  of  visiting  the  cele- 
brated Wartburg.  The  ladies,  all  being  Reformed  Protestants, 
wanted  to  see  where  the  great  reformer  had  been  confined 
and  had  worked  on  his  translation  of  the  Bible.  It  is  a 
legend  at  Eisenach  that  most  of  the  English  do  not  visit  the 
Wartburg  to  see  the  splendid  castle  with  its  superb  view  of  the 


74  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

verdant  valleys  and  mountains  of  Thueringen,  nor  the  great 
Knight's  hall  and  the  highly  interesting  armory,  but  merely 
to  look  at  the  ink-spot  on  the  wall  which  the  reformer  made 
when  he  missed  his  aim  in  throwing  his  ink-stand  at  the  devil. 
The  moment  they  have  been  shown  this  black  spot,  renewed, 
of  course,  every  year,  they  hurry  away,  fully  satisfied  that 
they  have  done  all  that  could  be  required  of  a  gentleman- 
traveler. 

Henrietta  Maddens,  my  neighbor,  the  prettiest  of  the 
girls,  who  was  engaged  as  governess  by  a  noble  family  in 
Weimar,  so  near  to  Jena,  received  my  particular  attention. 
We  walked  back  together  from  the  Burg,  where  we  had 
enjoyed  one  of  the  most  beautiful  views  in  Thueringen,  and 
I  told  her  I  should  be  glad  to  visit  her  from  time  to  time  at 
Weimar.  She  wrote  her  name  in  my  note-book,  and  gave  me 
the  address  of  the  baron  or  count  with  whom  she  was  to  stay. 
In  the  course  of  the  following  winter  I  called  at  the  house  of 
his  excellency.  A  liveried  servant  came  into  the  hall,  and  I 
gave  him  my  card  for  Henrietta.  After  a  while  he  came  down 
and  showed  me  up  to  a  kind  of  ante-room,  but  instead  of 
Henrietta  there  appeared  an  old  stiff-necked  lady  with  a  very 
aristocratic  look.  ' '  Madamoiselle  Henrietta  does  not  receive 
any  visits  from  young  gentlemen,"  she  uttered  in  a  very 
decided  tone.  "I  presume,"  I  replied,  "you  do  not  allow 
her  to  do  so.  Please  hand  her  my  card  and  tell  her  that  I 
should  have  been  glad  to  see  her,  and  that  she  has  my  best 
wishes  for  her  happiness."  Without  further  remarks,  I  re- 
treated, not  even  making  a  bow  to  the  old  woman.  That  was 
the  last  of  Henrietta. 

Through  G-otha,  we  reached  Weimar  on  a  Sunday  noon 
early  in  October.  I  parted  from  my  French  demoiselles,  who 
bade  me  a  very  warm  adieu.  The  weather  had  been  most 
beautiful,  indeed  like  Indian  summer;  and  it  may  be  said 
that  not  often  does  a  young  student  make  a  journey  more 
romantic  than  this  one. 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  75 

In  the  afternoon,  I  inquired  of  the  landlord  the  direc- 
tion of  Goethe's  house.  I  wanted  to  pay  my  respects  as  a 
fellow-townsman.  But  I  was  told  that  Goethe,  soon  after  the 
death  of  his  friend  the  Grand  Duke  of  Weimar  (June,  1828), 
had  left  for  Dornburg,  and  would  not  return  before  winter. 
Rambling  through  the  town,  I  saw  his  house,  which  was  archi- 
tecturally pleasing,  but  by  no  means  large.  I  also  saw  the 
modest  little  house  where  Schiller  had  lived. 

STUDENT    LIFE    IN    JENA.       THE    BURGKELLER 

Next  morning,  having  arranged  to  send  my  trunk  by 
wagon,  I  shouldered  my  knapsack  and  walked  the  twelve  miles 
to  Jena  in  the  picturesque  valley  of  the  Saale.  Through  a 
large  gate  with  a  big  tower  I  entered  the  town.  Right  near 
the  gate  is  a  pretty  little  square,  with  a  big  oak  tree  in  the  mid- 
dle (Eichplatz),  leading  by  a  tolerably  wide  street  to  another 
small  square,  on  which  stands  the  celebrated  club-house  of 
the  Burschenschaft,  or  "  Burgkeller, ' '  a  massive  old  building 
on  a  large  solid  foundation,  to  reach  the  first  floor  of  which 
one  has  to  go  up  some  six  or  seven  steps.  This  structure  must 
have  been  built  several  hundred  years  ago.  To  the  left  of  a 
rather  narrow  hall  is  a  large  room  with  a  number  of  tables. 
The  landlady  was  enshrined  on  a  sort  of  platform  behind  a 
low  desk,  from  which  she  could  survey  the  whole  room.  Be- 
hind the  desk  was  a  huge  blackboard,  with  names  on  it  and 
the  charges  due.  She  was  known  to  the  students  as  a  most 
business-like  woman,  crediting  persons  on  whose  honor  she 
could  rely,  and  even  lending  them  money  without  interest. 
She  was  highly  respected,  though  she  always  kept  the  strict- 
est order.  She  was  considered  wealthy. 

I  at  once  betook  myself  to  this  ancient  hostelry.  There 
was  no  one  there  when  I  entered  the  room  but  old  Mrs.  Baetz, 
the  owner  of  the  house.  I  laid  aside  my  knapsack,  and 
ordered  a  glass  of  beer.  The  waiter,  called  in  Jena  "lad" 
(Juengling),  brought  me  a  tall,  narrow  tumbler  without  a 
handle  and  holding  about  half  a  pint,  called  from  its  peculiar 


76  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENER 

form  a  pole  (Stange).  The  beer  looked  exactly  like  cider. 
It  was  white  beer,  such  as  I  had  never  seen  before,  but  was 
at  that  time  the  common,  I  might  say  the  only,  beverage  used 
there.  It  tasted  sour,  something  like  pale  ale,  and  was  quite 
sparkling.  I  asked  whether  they  did  not  have  brown  beer, 
and  was  answered :  ' '  Yes.  But  we  do  not  have  it  on  tap ;  it 
is  sold  only  by  the  jug."  I  tried  it  afterwards.  It  was 
brewed  in  Ober- Weimar,  and  hence  called  Ober  Wim;  but  it 
was  a  kind  of  double  beer,  of  very  dark  color,  and  much  too 
strong  for  social  drinking.  The  white  beer  was  weak,  and 
we  could  take  half  a  dozen  glasses  in  the  evening  without 
feeling  much  effect  from  it. 

After  a  while  a  student  entered.  He  was  a  tall,  thin, 
smoothfaced  young  man,  wearing  the  badge  (black,  red,  and 
gold  ribbon)  across  his  breast,  showing  that  he  was  a  member 
of  the  inner  union ;  he  stooped  a  little,  and  looked  schoolmas- 
ter-like. When  he  saw  me  with  my  Burschenshaft  cap,  he 
knew  at  once  that  I  was  a  new-comer  ("fox"),  ordered  a 
"Stange,"  and  took  a  seat  at  the  table  where  I  was  sitting. 
' '  Just  arrived  ? "  he  asked.  ' '  Yes. "  "  Where  from  ? "  ' '  From 
Frankfort."  "Frankfort!  Welcome,  brother  from  the 
Schwesterstadt  (sister  city).  I  am  from  Luebeck."  He  said 
that  there  were  not  many  students  in  town  as  yet,  as  the  va- 
cation was  not  quite  over.  "You  want  to  join  the  Burschen- 
schaft?"  "Yes."  "The  first  year  you  know  you  can  only 
belong  to  the  society  at  large.  You  have  to  pledge  yourself 
on  your  word  of  honor  to  observe  the  rules  of  student  con- 
duct, and  pay  a  small  fee  every  semester.  You  will  have  the 
use  of  the  library,  the  fencing-hall,  the  Turnplatz,  and  of  our 
weapons  when  fighting  a  duel.  If  found  worthy,  you  then  may 
become  a  real  member.  You  will  then  wear  the  ribbon,  and 
pledge  your  honor  to  obey  the  constitution."  I  told  him  I 
knew  all  that.  I  had  often  been  with  students  at  Heidelberg, 
and  knew  the  history  of  the  Burschenschaft  from  the  begin- 
ning. I  complained  of  the  beer.  He  said  he  also  had  at  first 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  77 

found  it  hard  to  swallow,  but,  quoting  from  Faust,  which 
was  the  Bursehenschaft  Bible,  he  said: 

"Das  kommt  nur  auf  Gewohnheit  an. 
So  nimmt  ein  Kind  die  Mutterbrust 
Nicht  gleich  im  Anfang  willig  an, 
Doch  bald  ernaehrt  es  sich  mit  Lust!" 

By  this  time  the  waiter  had  arranged  some  tables  for 
dinner.  "A  good  many  of  our  order,"  my  friend  remarked, 
"take  dinner  here.  For  a  Frankforter,  or  one  from  the  Free 
Cities,  the  eating  here  is  quite  poor,  but,"  said  he, 

"Wir  essen  desto  weniger, 
Und  trinken  desto  mehr." 

After  awhile,  some  four  or  five  more  students  dropped 
in,  and  we  all  sat  down  to  dinner.  My  friend  had  not  de- 
ceived me.  The  dinner  was  very  indifferent  —  soup,  vegeta- 
bles, and  some  pretty  fair  boiled  beef  with  mustard,  horse- 
radish, etc.  Of  course,  there  were  changes  every  day,  some- 
times for  the  worse.  On  Sundays,  however,  we  had  in  addi- 
tion nice  roast  goose,  or  hare,  which  is  very  fine  in  Europe. 
In  the  evening,  if  one  felt  like  having  a  warm  supper,  one 
could  order  from  the  bill  of  fare,  which  was  very  good,  par- 
ticularly on  Saturday  evenings,  when  we  always  had  excel- 
lent tenderloin  steaks,  with  fried  potatoes.  The  many  stu- 
dents from  the  north  of  Germany  had  caused  this  dish  to  be 
well  cooked.  The  dinner,  when  engaged  for  the  week,  cost 
only  three  Saxon  groats,  or  about  ten  cents.  What  was  or- 
dered from  the  bill  of  fare  was  generally  more  expensive. 
For  steak  and  potatoes  we  paid  about  fifteen  cents.  The 
people  in  this  part  of  Germany  are  very  frugal  in  their  eat- 
ing. I  have  taken  dinner  at  some  of  the  houses  of  professors 
and  wealthy  merchants,  but  the  meal  was  always  simple, 
though  better  cooked  than  in  the  Burgkeller  and  similar 
places.  Sometimes,  however,  we  enjoyed  very  good  meals  at 
the  leading  hotel  of  Jena;  and  there  was  also  one  coffee- 
house where  one  could  get  choice  things,  good  coffee  and 


78  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

chocolate,  splendid  rolls  and  cakes,  and  such  delicacies  as  fish 
or  venison.  But  the  length  of  our  purse  would  not  often 
allow  us  to  patronize  this  establishment. 

In  the  neighboring  villages,  which  we  visited  very  often 
on  Saturday  or  Sunday  afternoon,  we  found  excellent  milk 
and  cheese,  good  ham  and  other  cold  meats.  Breakfast  in 
the  morning  we  got  from  our  landlady  where  we  lodged,  tol- 
erably good  coffee  and  nice  rolls,  all  of  which  was  included 
in  the  rent.  In  the  evening  we  hardly  took  anything  but  sand- 
wiches, or  bread,  butter  and  cheese.  Sometimes,  when  those 
living  in  the  same  house  met  together  in  one  of  our  rooms,  tea 
was  brewed  and  liberally  mixed  with  claret  or  rum.  I  have 
gone  into  these  details,  because  for  two  years  this  was  my 
ordinary  life,  so  far  as  eating  was  concerned.  There  was 
then  not  so  much  luxury  in  Germany  as  now,  and  in  Jena 
and  some  other  Universities,  even  less  of  it  than  at  other 
places. 

My  Luebeck  friend  introduced  me  to  the  other  Burschen. 
They  were  mostly  fine-looking  fellows,  some  with  long  curly 
hair,  and  all,  except  my  friend,  with  beards.  My  Luebecker 
was  nicknamed  "Habakkuk,"  and  I  did  not  find  out  his  real 
name  until  some  days  afterwards;  it  was  Wehrman.  He  was 
a  student  of  theology,  but  pretty  lively,  or  what  the  students 
call  "fidel."  The  weather  being  very  fine,  it  was  proposed 
to  make  up  a  party  for  a  trip  to  a  place  they  called  Nova. 
One  fellow  by  the  name  of  Wild,  and  a  wild-looking  fellow 
he  was,  (a  year  afterwards  he  was  run  through  in  a  duel 
and  came  very  near  dying,)  declined  going  because  he  had 
no  money.  I  had  sense  enough  to  offer  to  pay  his  share, 
which  was  of  course  accepted,  and  I  made  a  hit  right  there 
with  the  other  students.  A  conveyance  was  ordered  from  the 
post-house,  and  a  very  curious  structure  it  was,  such  as  I 
had  never  seen  before.  On  a  long  running  gear  rested  a  huge 
open  wicker-work  box,  containing  four  seats,  each  wide  enough 
for  three  or  even  four  people.  The  box  was  cradle-shaped, 
higher  behind  than  in  front.  There  were  four  horses  hitched 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  79 

to  it,  and  the  postillion  rode  on  the  near  horse.  The  uniform 
of  these  Saxon  postillions  was  most  ridiculous.  A  yellow 
jacket  with  red  facings,  yellow  leather  breeches  and  high  boots, 
and  a  polished  leather  hat  with  yellow  ribbons.  The  letter- 
carriers'  uniforms  were  also  yellow.  We  used  to  call  them 
canary  birds.  Well,  some  eight  of  us  got  in,  lighted  our  long 
pipes,  and,  the  moment  we  started  driving  over  the  large 
market  square  and  through  the  streets,  we  struck  up  a  song 
which  commenced: 

"Frischer  Muth,  froher  Sinn  — 
Fuehren  uns  durch  's  Leben  hin." 

This  did  not  excite  the  least  attention,  because  it  was  ail 
every  day  occurrence  for  students  to  sing  in  the  streets,  and 
even  to  fence  with  foils  before  the  Burgkeller  or  in  the  mar- 
ket-place. When  the  fencing  was  good,  other  students,  and 
even  citizens,  would  stop,  form  a  ring,  and  admire  our  skill. 
We  took  our  pipes  and  foils  into  the  lecture-rooms,  so  that  we 
could  go  immediately  on  dismissal  to  the  fencing-grounds  or 
to  similar  exercises  in  the  streets.  It  was  the  most  free  and 
easy  life  imaginable.  In  summer,  the  students  mostly  wore 
no  coats,  but  blouses  of  blue  or  gray;  some  wore  their  dress- 
ing gowns  at  all  seasons  of  the  year;  yet  there  was  never  the 
least  disorder  in  the  lecture-room,  and  amongst  the  students 
themselves  there  was  the  most  courteous  intercourse,  one  rea- 
son for  which  was  that  any  rudeness  was  pretty  sure  to  lead 
to  a  duel. 

About  how  careful  one  had  to  be,  I  can  give  an  instance 
in  which  I  was  somewhat  interested.  Playing  a  game  of 
whist  one  night,  my  partner,  named  Lichtenstein,  found  fault 
with  my  play  in  not  having  returned  his  lead.  As  he  kept  on 
talking  about  it,  I  lost  my  patience,  and  told  him  to  keep  his 
mouth  shut.  He  then  used  the  technically  offensive  word 
"Dummer  Junge"  (imbecile),  which  demanded  an  immediate 
challenge.  The  game  was  broken  up,  and  the  affair  came  be- 
fore our  court  of  honor.  Insisting  that  he  had  sought  a  quar- 


80 

rel  by  blaming  me  for  what  he  believed  was  a  bad  play,  and 
showing  that  I  had  very  good  reasons  for  not  returning  his 
lead  from  my  hand,  I  refused  to  withdraw  what  I  had  said, 
and  since  he  would  not  retract  his  offensive  word,  we  fought  it 
out.  He  was  a  very  amiable  man;  we  had  been  very  good 
friends;  and  I  neither  hurt  him,  nor  did  I  want  to.  He  had 
already  received,  in  a  former  duel,  a  stab  in  his  right  lung, 
and  was  suffering  from  it.  We  became  excellent  friends 
again.  A  few  years  afterwards  I  learned  that  he  died  of  con- 
sumption in  consequence  of  the  wound  which  he  had  before 
received,  at  Wuerzburg,  I  believe. 

We  left  the  town,  driving  up  the  charming  valley  of  the 
Saale  for  about  three  miles,  leaving  the  Paradise,  a  fine 
double  or  treble  avenue  of  trees,  on  our  left  at  a  village,  and 
going  out  of  the  valley  reached,  about  three  miles  farther  on,  a 
huge  new  tavern,  which  went  by  the  name  of  "Nova,"  because 
it  was  a  new  place  of  resort.  We  had  a  glorious  time,  being 
now  in  the  principality  of  one  of  the  many  Reuss  Princes  and 
obtaining  the  celebrated  Kostritz  beer  there  at  the  home  price, 
and  not  as  in  Jena  with  the  added  high  duty.  (Such  were 
the  beauties  of  Grerman  governments  before  the  Zoll-Verein 
and  the  Empire.)  We  sang  and  drank,  played  at  bowls,  and 
started  for  home  pretty  late.  I  stopped  with  "Habakkuk" 
that  night,  at  his  invitation,  and  for  several  days  after,  until 
I  had  found  lodgings  that  suited  me. 

Living  was  cheap  in  Jena.  We  paid,  for  instance,  for 
our  stage-drive  only  about  twenty-five  cents  a  head.  The 
postillion  got  his  tip  in  some  half  dozen  glasses  of  beer  and 
a  huge  sausage.  For  my  rooms,  —  a  sitting  room  and  a  small 
bedroom, — I  believe  I  did  not  pay  more  (coffee  for  breakfast 
included)  than  fifteen  dollars  a  semester,  or  half  year.  The 
light  and  fuel  I  paid  extra.  Laundrying  was  very  cheap.  In 
fact,  with  two  hundred  dollars  a  year,  a  student  might  get 
along  handsomely.  Of  course,  many  spent  a  great  deal  more. 

I  was  matriculated,  engaged  lectures  with  Professors 
Zimmern  and  Hencke,  and  also  with  Fries,  who  lectured  on 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  81 

psychology,  and  with  Luden  the  historian.  There  were  no 
recitations,  no  examinations.  The  professors  lectured  with 
notes,  some  without  notes.  The  students,  if  they  chase,  took 
notes,  and  those  that  wrote  quickly  and  with  abbreviations 
could  take  down  the  lectures  verbatim.  Of  course,  it  was  ex- 
pected that  these  notes  should  be  read  and  studied  at  home. 
You  could  attend  or  not  attend  the  lectures.  If  you  paid  for 
them,  you  acquired  the  privilege  of  attendance.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  the  professors,  who  sometimes  had  more  than 
a  hundred  hearers,  to  note  the  absentees.  No  roll-call  would 
be  permitted  by  the  students  for  a  minute.  The  idea  was  that 
each  one  would  for  his  own  sake  try  to  learn  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. If  he  idled  his  time  away,  it  was  his  business  and  not 
that  of  the  University. 

By  and  by  the  lectures  began,  and  the  town  and  the  Burg- 
keller  filled  up  with  students.  And  a  most  noble  set  our 
Burschenschaft  was.  There  were  about  sixty  or  seventy  in 
the  inner  order,  and  about  two  hundred  who  were  attached 
to  the  society.  They  were  called  ' '  Renonces. ' '  Most  of  them 
were  candidates  for  the  inner  order.  And  here  I  must  say 
something  of  the  history  and  the  nature  of  the  Burschen- 
schaft. 

THE    GERMAN    BURSCHENSCHAFT,    AND    THE    MOVEMENT    FOR    NA- 
TIONAL UNITY. 

It  had  been  customary  for  students  at  the  different 
Universities,  for  centuries,  to  form  amongst  themselves  so- 
cieties, or  orders,  for  social  enjoyment,  mutual  support  in 
sickness,  protection  of  their  members  against  attacks  from 
outsiders,  etc.  They  adopted  their  own  rules  and  regulations, 
which  as  a  general  thing  were  submitted  to  the  authorities  of 
the  Universities  and  approved  by  them,  for  secret  orders 
were  not  officially  tolerated.  The  orders  adopted  various 
names,  such  as  Concordia,  Constantia,  and  like  general  ap- 
pellations. But  in  course  of  time  these  societies  came  to  be 
composed  of  students  from  the  same  region  of  the  country, 


82  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

and  they  were  named  accordingly;  as  for  instance,  Barussia, 
Saxonia,  Franconia,  and  Rhenania,  —  thus  perpetuating  the 
provincial  distinctions  which  so  unfortunately  prevailed  in 
Germany.  Further,  these  societies  became  in  time  very  over- 
bearing, treating  with  contempt  all  students  who  did  not  join 
them,  as  they  did  also  all  people  who  did  not  belong  to  the 
higher  classes,  such  as  army  officers  or  high  government  of- 
ficials. Between  the  societies  there  was  constant  rivalry,  and 
numberless  duels  were  the  consequence.  All  kinds  of  excesses 
were  indulged  in,  particularly  drinking.  In  fact,  they  had 
become  very  odious. 

The  oppression  of  Germany  by  Napoleon  and  his  vassal 
princes  had  roused  a  spirit  of  nationality,  hitherto  unknown. 
Even  before  the  wars  of  liberation  attempts  were  made  at 
some  of  the  Universities  to  do  away  with  these  sectional  so- 
cieties and  to  merge  all  students  attending  a  university  into 
one  common  society  under  rational  rules  and  regulations,  by 
which  duels  should  be  prevented  if  possible,  and  immoral  con- 
duct be  punished  even  by  exclusion.  It  was,  however,  only 
after  the  wars  of  liberation  and  the  establishment  of  peace  in 
1815,  that  these  ideas  were  realized  in  good  earnest.  Thou- 
sands of  students,  and  even  the  pupils  in  the  colleges,  had 
volunteered  in  the  war.  Upon  their  return  to  the  Universi- 
ties they  could  not  but  look  upon  these  sectional  societies  with 
displeasure.  They  were  enthusiastic  for  German  unity  in 
some  form  or  another,  and  also  for  German  liberty. 

Carl  Follen,  afterwards  so  well  known  and  so  highly  es- 
teemed in  the  United  States,  a  man  imbued  with  the  noblest 
principles,  of  vast  learning,  extraordinary  energy  and  will- 
power, who,  with  his  two  brothers,  had  fought  as  a  volunteer 
against  the  French,  was  the  first  to  make  war  against  the 
abuse  of  these  provincial  societies  in  the  University  of  Giessen 
and  afterwards  in  Jena,  where  he  became  a  lecturer  on  law. 
The  new  society  took  the  name  of  Burschenschaft  (Union  of 
Students),  to  which  all  honorable  students  could  be  admitted 
on  pledging  themselves  to  such  rules  and  regulations  as  en- 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  83 

sured  good  moral  behavior,  and  on  promising  to  consider 
themselves,  not  as  Prussians  or  Bavarians  or  Saxons,  but  as 
Germans.  In  Jena,  this  new  movement,  favored  by  patriotic 
professors  like  Fries,  Oken,  and  Luden,  took  the  deepest  root. 
Very  soon,  and  even  before  the  Wartburgfest  in  1817,  nearly 
all  the  students  had  joined  the  Burschenschaft,  the  constitu- 
tion of  which,  among  other  articles  relating  to  the  social  life 
of  the  students,  contained  one  provision  which  stated  it  to  be 
the  object  of  the  Burschenschaft  "to  carry  the  idea  of  unity 
and  freedom  of  the  German  people  into  active  life;  to  intro- 
duce among  the  students  unity,  equality,  liberty,  and  the  cul- 
ture of  all  intellectual  and  physical  faculties  in  cheerful 
youthful  intercourse,  and  to  prepare  the  members  of  this  com- 
munity for  the  service  of  their  country."  There  was  an  in- 
tense feeling  of  nationality,  not  unmixed  with  a  religious 
tinge,  prevailing  everywhere,  and  the  first  constitution  of  the 
Burschenschaft  called  itself  the  Christian  German  Burschen- 
schaft, excluding  thereby  all  non-Germans,  among  them  the 
Jews. 

Very  soon,  Burschenschaften  having  been  formed  at  most 
of  the  Universities,  intercommunication  took  place,  and  a  com- 
mon German  Burschenschaft  was  established,  the  direction 
of  which  was  by  turns  given  to  the  various  Universities.  Jena 
had  the  first  direction.  The  central  union  could  call  meetings 
of  delegates  who  discussed  and  decided  all  questions  arising 
from  internal  dissensions  or  the  construction  of  the  constitu- 
tion, and  thus  secured  harmony.  They  heard  all  complaints 
and  decided  them.  Important  proposals  were  referred  to  the 
local  Burschenschaft  for  acceptance. 

This  great  move  amongst  the  young  and  intelligent  element 
of  Germany,  with  its  decided  aspirations  for  national  unity 
and  constitutional  liberty,  while  it  met  with  great  favor 
amongst  all  Liberals,  alarmed  Metternich  and  all  the  govern- 
ments under  his  control.  The  motley  State  of  Austria,  em- 
bracing half  a  dozen  nationalities,  required  a  system  of  abso- 
lute rule,  and  Metternich  saw  clearly  that  the  spread  of  Liberal 


84  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ideas  in  the  rest  of  Germany  would  endanger  the  existence 
of  Austria,  the  peace  and  quiet  of  which  was  the  object  near- 
est his  heart.  When,  therefore,  in  1819,  Sand,  who  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Burschenschaft  at  Jena,  but  had  retired  from 
it,  assassinated  Von  Kotzebue,  Metternich  at  once  called  a 
meeting  of  all  the  German  governments  at  Carlsbad,  and. 
though  the  trial  showed  that  Sand  had  no  accomplices,  and 
that  no  one  had  the  slightest  knowledge  of  what  he  intended 
to  do,  still  taking  the  deed  of  Sand  as  a  pretext,  the  same 
statesman  conjured  up  a  large  conspiracy,  and  caused  the 
Bundestag  in  Frankfort  to  pass  resolutions  creating  a  com- 
mission with  power  to  examine  into  the  state  of  all  Universi- 
ties and  to  institute  proceedings  not  only  against  students, 
but  against  anyone  suspected  of  being  unloyal.  The  different 
governments  were  required  to  dissolve  the  Burschenschaften, 
and  to  prosecute  professors  who  had  sympathized  with  the 
movement.  Hundreds  of  persons  were  arrested,  and  kept  in 
prison  for  years,  while  this  inquisition  was  going  on.  Some 
professors  were  deposed,  —  amongst  them  the  great  patriot 
Arndt,  professor  at  Bonn.  Prussia,  then  entirely  under  Met- 
ternich's  influence,  acted  more  severely  than  any  other  gov- 
ernment. A  great  many  went  into  exile  to  escape  arrest :  the 
three  brothers  Follen,  De  Wette,  Lieber  and  numerous  others. 

The  consequence  was,  that  whereas  the  Burschenschaften 
had  before  flourished  in  open  daylight,  now  they  were  con- 
tinued in  secret ;  and  that,  after  the  first  fury  of  prosecution 
spent  itself,  and  the  inquisitorial  commission  of  the  Bundestag 
led  to  no  discovery  of  a  real  conspiracy  against  the  throne 
and  the  altar,  these  societies,  which  were  sustained  by  popular 
opinion  everywhere,  again  publicly  held  their  meetings,  wore 
their  badges,  sang  their  patriotic  songs.  Their  existence, 
though  not  officially  recognized,  and  still  forbidden  on  pain 
of  dismissal  from  the  Universities,  was  an  open  secret. 

In  the  course  of  years,  as  could  hardly  be  otherwise,  a 
considerable  change  took  place  in  public  opinion,  which  change 
had  its  influence  on  the  youth  of  the  Universities.  The  idea 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  85 

and  desire  of  seeing  Germany  united  and  enjoying  free  insti- 
tutions, of  course,  still  prevailed;  but  this  romantic  and  ex- 
clusively German  feeling  had  been  supplanted  by  the  more 
realistic  wish  of  reforming  existing  institutions  in  all  the 
States  in  which  a  constitutional  government  existed,  and  of 
introducing  constitutions  into  those  in  which,  in  spite  of  the 
Acts  of  Confederation  (Bundesacte),  the  governments  had 
failed  to  establish  them.  Prussia,  above  all,  was  the  one  gov- 
ernment most  hated,  as  it  had  not  complied  with  the  repeated 
promises  of  its  King  and  the  supreme  law.  Besides,  the  rev- 
olutions in  Italy,  Spain,  Greece,  and  the  parliamentary  de- 
bates in  France  under  the  Bourbon  restoration,  had  turned 
the  attention  of  the  German  people  to  other  countries,  and 
awakened  an  interest  generally  in  liberty,  civil  and  political,  — 
thus  widening  their  sphere  of  thought  and  deadening 
national  antipathies.  The  word  "Christian"  was  stricken  out 
of  the  constitution  of  the  Burschenschaft,  and  Jews  were  ad- 
mitted. The  object  of  the  society  was  expressed  in  this  way: 
"The  Universal  German  Burschenschaft  aims,  by  means  of 
moral,  intellectual  and  physical  culture  at  the  University,  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  establishment  of  a  free  and  orderly 
instituted  commonwealth  founded  in  the  unity  of  the  people. ' ' 
Instead  of  merely  dreaming  of  a  German  Empire  or  Re- 
public, the  youth  of  Germany  had  become  readers  of  political 
economy,  of  English  and  American  constitutional  law,  and  now 
followed  the  parliamentary  debates  of  the  French  Chambers 
and  of  the  legislatures  of  the  southern  German  States,  such  as 
Bavaria,  Wuertemberg,  and  Baden.  Sentimentality  and  ro- 
manticism became  obsolete,  and  outward  life  freer  and  livelier. 
Of  course,  more  attention  was  still  paid  to  morality  in  every 
form  than  was  the  case  with  the  provincial  societies  (Lands- 
mannschaften),  and  conduct  such  as  was  common  amongst 
French  students,  for  instance,  would  have  been  visited  with 
immediate  expulsion.  Duelling  had  become  more  common, 
although  the  court  of  honor  was  still  kept  up.  In  a  word,  the 
Burschenschaften  everywhere  were  more  liberal,  more  gay, 


86  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

more  cosmopolitan,  and  more  free-thinking,  when  I  entered 
at  Jena  in  1828,  than  during  the  first  ten  years  of  its  exist- 
ence. 

It  was  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the  Burschenschaften 
were  far  ahead  intellectually  of  the  provincial  student  so- 
cieties. The  latter,  as  a  general  thing,  comprised  only  stu- 
dents from  one  particular  state  of  Germany,  while  the  former 
counted  among  their  number  members  from  the  Alps,  the 
Rhine,  and  the  North  and  Baltic  Seas.  In  Jena,  we  had  also 
members  from  Switzerland,  as  for  instance  Von  Guenzberg, 
I.  O.  Burckhardt,  and  J.  A.  Bachman,  who  in  later  years  held 
important  positions  in  their  country.  Some  very  intelligent 
Hungarians,  studying  Protestant  theology,  attached  themselves 
to  our  society.  "We  had  a  good  library,  containing,  of  course, 
all  the  German  classics,  and  also  the  works  of  modern  writers, 
like  Boerne  and  Heine.  The  works  of  Alexander  Everett  on 
America  were  much  read.  Shakespeare,  Goethe,  Byron  and 
Heine  were  our  favorite  authors;  and,  as  before  remarked, 
Faust  was  our  Bible. 

During  Christmas  vacation,  William  Weber,  myself, 
and  two  others  whose  names  I  have  forgotten,  though  they 
must  have  been  good  fellows,  made  a  trip  to  Halle  and  Leip- 
sic.  In  Leipsic  I  met  a  Russian  who  was  connected  with  the 
Burschenschaft,  a  young  man  of  genius,  who  was  as  true  a 
type  of  what  we  now  call  "nihilist"  as  could  be  found  any- 
where. His  name  had  too  many  consonants  for  me  to  be  able 
to  remember  it.  I  here  enjoyed,  after  a  long  interruption,  the 
opera  ("Templar  and  Jewess,"  by  Marschner) ;  but  between 
Leipsic  and  Frankfort,  so  far  as  the  orchestra  and  singing 
were  concerned,  there  was  no  comparison.  During  the  few  last 
years  of  my  residence  in  Frankfort,  there  was  a  combination  of 
opera-singers  there,  such  as  perhaps  no  other  theatre,  at  that 
time,  could  show.  I  need  only  to  mention,  in  support  of  this, 
the  names  of  Dobler,  Neiser,  Forti,  the  Misses  Bamberger,  and 
the  two  sisters  Heinefetter. 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  87 

ALTENBURG 

From  Leipsic,  Weber  and  myself  footed  it  to  Altenburg, 
a  distance  of  about  thirty  miles.  The  weather  was  cold  but 
clear,  and  some  parts  of  the  way  along  the  Pleisse  were  quite 
romantic.  Altenburg,  though  at  that  time  not  containing 
more  than  about  15,000  people,  is  a  highly  interesting  city. 
The  old  Schloss,  on  a  high  rock,  dates  back  to  the  fourteenth 
century.  The  new  "residence"  was  very  fine.  The  city  had 
seen  many  important  gatherings  of  princes  and  scholars,  par- 
ticularly at  the  time  of  the  reformation.  It  had  an  excellent 
college  and  schools,  important  printing  and  publishing  es- 
tablishments, and  its  citizens  were  of  a  high  grade  of  intelli- 
gence, and  had  given  many  distinguished  statesmen  and  auth- 
ors to  Germany.  At  Jena,  the  students  from  Altenburg  were, 
as  a  general  thing,  better  informed  and  more  patriotic  than 
those  from  the  neighboring  Thuringian  states.  Weber  was  a 
native  of  this  charming  place.  I  stayed  here  at  a  fellow  stu- 
dent's home  some  three  days.  We  went  out  into  the  country 
to  look  at  some  of  the  large  farms  owned  by  the  descendants 
of  the  Wends,  now  thoroughly  Germanized,  who  occupy  the 
rich  country  east  of  the  city.  These  people  have  retained, 
however,  many  of  their  old  Slav  customs.  The  lands  descend 
to  the  youngest  son,  and,  in  the  absence  of  sons,  to  the  oldest 
daughter;  so  that,  there  being  no  partition  of  lands,  the 
owner  is  generally  very  well  off.  In  fact,  there  are  more  rich 
peasants  here  than  anywhere  else  in  Germany.  They  have 
also  preserved  their  old  costumes.  The  men  wear  very  short 
black  cloth  jackets,  black  vests,  black  leather  sheepskin  breech- 
es, and  high  boots.  Their  heads  are  covered  with  a  low- 
crowned,  small-brimmed  black  felt  hat.  They  are  excellent 
farmers,  but  haughty,  and  much  given  to  gambling.  The 
women  also  wear  black  jackets,  with  thick  petticoats  of  many 
colors  laid  in  innumerable  small  folds,  and  enclosing  their 
bodies  very  tightly,  which,  as  their  petticoats  reach  only  to 
the  knees,  seems  quite  necessary.  White  stockings,  with  flow- 


88  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ing  garters,  cover  their  legs,  and  their  feet  are  encased  in  very 
low  cut  shoes.  "We  attended  a  farmers'  ball  at  Altenburg.  All 
the  men  and  women  were  in  their  native  garb.  None  but 
peasants  were  admitted  to  dance.  We  were  spectators  only. 

The  Wends,  like  all  Slav  people,  dance  remarkably  well 
and  with  great  rapidity.  The  gallop  and  waltz  were  their  only 
dances.  The  men  drank  nothing  but  Franconian  wine,  and 
several  rooms  were  filled  with  card-players,  with  piles  of  dol- 
lars on  the  tables,  —  for  these  peasants  are  fond  of  display. 
From  Altenburg  we  went  back  via  Eisenberg  to  Jena  on  foot. 
In  such  mountainous  and  wooded  countries,  walking  is  a 
pleasure ;  and  one  learns  more  of  the  real  people  and  the  con- 
dition of  the  soil  and  its  products  in  a  month's  foot-travel 
than  in  a  whole  year  of  railroad-riding. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  first  half  year,  it  was  intimated 
to  Adolph  Goeden  and  myself,  that  if  we  should  make  appli- 
cation, we  should  be  received  into  the  inner  society  of  the 
Burschenschaft.  We  were  accordingly  admitted  at  the  last 
general  meeting  of  the  society  for  that  semester,  and  with 
great  solemnity,  at  Zwaetzen,  where  such  meetings  were  held; 
and  we  were  now  entitled  to  wear  the  Burschenschaft  ribbon. 

STUDENT-FRIENDS 

Goeden,  George  Semper,  and  myself  had  planned  to  make 
a  journey  during  the  Easter  vacation  to  Munich.  Adolph 
Goeden  was  from  Friedland,  Mecklenburg-Strelitz.  He  was 
tall  and  well  formed,  had  a  handsome  face,  and  a  lovely  mouth 
with  deep  dimples  in  his  cheeks.  He  was  of  a  rather  enthus- 
iastic nature,  had  a  warm  heart,  and  had  become  singularly 
attached  to  me.  When,  many  years  afterwards,  in  the  United 
States,  looking  over  some  old  letters,  I  gave  some  of  them  to 
my  wife,  Sophia,  to  read,  she  remarked  that  if  they  had 
not  been  written  by  a  man,  she  would  have  thought  they  had 
been  written  by  a  sweetheart  of  mine. 

George  Semper  was  from  Altona,  and  a  brother  of  God- 
frey Semper,  the  celebrated  architect,  builder  of  the  Dresden 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  89 

and  Darmstadt  theatres,  of  the  Museum  at  Vienna,  and  of 
many  other  noble  structures.  George  was  tall  and  slender, 
yet  well  formed.  His  face  was  very  regular  and  had  a  most 
gentle  expression.  His  voice  was  remarkably  melodious. 
Sweet-tempered,  he  was  yet  a  bold  and  manly  fellow,  and  very 
patriotic  like  his  brother,  who,  though  a  professor  of  archi- 
tecture in  the  Art  Academy  of  Dresden,  built  barricades  in 
the  May  revolution  of  1849  in  that  place,  had  to  flee  the  coun- 
try, and  returned  only  after  a  long  sojourn  in  England  and 
Switzerland.  I  loved  George  more  than  any  other  of  my  fel- 
low-students at  Jena. 

A  few  days  before  we  started  for  the  south  of  Germany, 
on  a  Saturday  afternoon,  a  group  of  us  stood  before  the  old 
Burgkeller  preparing  to  visit  Zwaetzen,  a  favorite  resort  of 
our  society,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Saale.  The  weather  was 
beautiful,  almost  too  warm  for  the  season.  Some  proposed 
taking  a  circuitous  route  to  the  village  along  the  right  bank 
of  the  Saale  via  Kunitzburg.  This  town  was  about  a  mile  out 
of  the  way,  and  as  every  one  going  to  Kunitzburg  went  up  to 
the  ruins  of  the  old  castle,  from  which  there  was  a  beautiful 
view  up  and  down  the  valley,  the  trip  proposed  was,  of  course, 
more  tiresome  than  the  direct  one  to  Zwaetzen,  on  the  great 
highway  leading  to  Dornburg  and  Naumburg.  Semper  had 
decided  to  take  the  Kunitzburg  route,  and  in  his  gentle  way 
was  trying  to  persuade  me  to  go  along  with  him.  But  the  warm 
spring  air  had  made  me  somewhat  fatigued,  and,  in  spite  of 
his  entreaties,  I,  with  the  rest  of  the  crowd,  took  the  other 
route.  I  almost  regretted  it  afterwards,  for  Semper  had  in- 
sisted so  much  as  to  seem  somewhat  displeased  at  my  refusal. 

When  we  had  been  about  an  hour  at  Zwaetzen,  sitting  in 
the  garden  of  our  inn,  singing  and  playing  at  bowls,  a  country- 
fellow  came  running  across  the  road,  crying  aloud:  "Lord! 
Lord ! ' '  ( Ach,  Gott !  Ach,  Gott !)  We  rose  when  he  exclaimed : 
' '  They  have  all  been  drowned  —  all  drowned. ' '  We  did  not 
know  at  first  what  he  meant,  and,  questioning  him,  he  replied : 
"The  students  —  the  students."  I  was  seized  with  terror;  we 


90 

all  ran  towards  the  river-bank  which  was  about  a  half  a  mile 
off,  when  we  met  Florencourt,  who  had  been  with  the  party. 
We  soon  heard  the  horrible  tale. 

The  river  was  very  high,  the  current  very  rapid.     There 
was  a  ferry  at  Kunitzburg,  worked  by  a  rope  stretched  from 
one  shore  to  the  other,  the  same  as  is,  or  was,  in  frequent  use 
in  this  country  on  smaller  rivers.    A  rope  or  chain  to  the  stern 
of  the  boat  is  connected  with  the  big  rope  by  means  of  a  ring, 
which  rolls  along  when  the  boat  moves.     The  ferryman  stands 
in  the  bow  and  handles  the  boat  alone.    The  current  takes  the 
boat  to  the  opposite  bank.    Large  flat  boats  were  used,  gen- 
erally large  enough  to  carry  wagons  and  cattle.     But  when 
the  river  was  high,  foot-passengers  only  were  carried  over, 
in  a  long  small  boat,  which,  in  this  instance,  was  somewhat 
like  a  canoe.    In  the  boat  were  Semper,  Florencourt,  Snittger 
from  Detmold,  Wessel  from  Lippe,  and  another  "Wessel,  who 
was  on  a  visit  to  Jena,  and  the  ferryman.     Considering  the 
rough  state  of  the  river,  there  were  too  many  persons  in  the 
small  boat.     About  half  way  over,  the  ferryman,  who  held 
desperately  to  the  rope,  could  hold  it  no  longer,  and  in  an  in- 
stant the  boat  tipped,  throwing  all  out  but  "Wessel  of  Jena, 
who  was  in  the  stern  and  held  fast  to  the  connecting  rope. 
The  canoe,  after  the  load  was  out,  righted  itself.     The  ferry- 
man and  Florencourt  swam  ashore.    Semper  was  an  excellent 
swimmer,  but  the  ferryman  said  that  one  of  the  others  had 
got  hold  of  him,  and  so  both  sank,  as  did  also  the  other  Wessel, 
who  probably  could  not  swim.    Instant  search  was  made  by 
the  people  of  the  villages  on  both  sides  of  the  river  all  that 
evening  until  late  at  night  for  the  bodies,  but  no  trace  was 
found  of  them  then. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  for  days  a  gloom  was  cast  over 
the  whole  town.  Not  only  we  of  the  Burschenschaft,  but  the 
professors,  and  all  who  knew  the  three  noble  young  men,  were 
deeply  afflicted,  and  perhaps  no  one  more  than  I. 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  91 

The  verses  entitled  ' '  Die  Saale ' '  and  ' '  Verkuendigung  im 
Herbst"  are  mementos  of  my  feelings  on  this  terrible  disaster. 

Some  days  afterwards  Godfrey  Semper  arrived  from 
Hamburg,  but  Goeden  and  myself  had  already  started  on  our 
tour.  The  bodies  were  found  a  few  miles  below  Kunitzburg 
at  Golmsdorf,  and  buried  in  the  village  cemetery.  Our  so- 
ciety at  once  resolved  to  erect  a  monument  there.  I  believe 
the  design  of  it  was  made  by  Godfrey  Semper.  It  was  exe- 
cuted by  a  noted  sculptor  in  Gotha,  and  late  in  the  summer  of 
1829  it  was  placed  upon  their  grave  at  Golmsdorf.  I  had 
been  selected  by  the  society  to  deliver  the  funeral  oration.  It 
was  a  painful  task.  It  is  still  among  my  papers.  The  Saale 
Nixe  reminds  one  of  the  ' '  Erl-Koenig, "  si  parva  licet  com- 
ponere  magnis;  but  of  course  in  a  youth  of  nineteen  the  want 
of  originality  was  quite  excusable. 

I  have  mentioned  Von  Florencourt.  He  came  from  Bruns- 
wick, and  was  what  might  be  called  a  problematical  character. 
He  was  then  very  liberal,  radically  so.  In  1832,  on  my  re- 
turn from  the  University  of  Heidelberg,  he  lived  in  Hanau, 
and  on  my  political  missions  to  that  place  I  met  him  frequent- 
ly. He  was  then  full  of  revolutionary  ideas.  For  years  I 
heard  nothing  of  him,  but  he  was  mentioned  in  1848  as  being 
quite  reactionary.  He  wrote  in  the  interest  of  absolute  mon- 
archy, and  if  I  mistake  not,  even  of  Ultramontanism.  What 
became  finally  of  him  I  do  not  know.  Certainly  his  late 
career  was  in  great  contrast  with  the  views  he  held  at  the 
University.  In  a  strong,  firm  hand  he  wrote  in  my  album: 

"Alle  die  den  Geist  erkannten, 

Sollten  sender  Wank 
Immer,  immer  Protestanten 

Gegen  Knechtessinn  sich  nennen; 
Frei  soil  Jeder  das  bekennen, 

Der  aus  Roemern  Rheinwein  trank. " 

Zum  herzlichen  Andenken  an 

Franz  von  Florencourt 
Stud,  aus  Braunschweig.    Jena  am  1  Dec.,  1829. 


92  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 


It  cannot  be  translated,  but  only  paraphrased: 
"All  who  have  caught  the  spirit  of  liberty  shall,  without 
wavering,  always  be  protestants  against  servility ;  freely  shall 
everyone  who  has  ever  drunk  Rhine  wine  out  of  goblets  make 
this  protest." 

A  TRIP  TO  SOUTHERN   GERMANY 

Goeden  and  myself  left  Jena  about  the  6th  of  April,  went 
by  Saalfeld  over  the  mountains,  —  the  Thuringian  Forest,  — 
to  Sonneberg.  Some  of  the  scenery  was  very  fine,  part  rather 
desolate,  and  the  roads  very  rough.  The  fare  was  bad.  But 
starting,  as  we  usually  did,  early  in  the  morning  on  a  frugal 
breakfast  of  weak  coffee  and  stale  rolls,  we  were  always  in 
condition  to  relish  the  most  indifferent  dinner  after  a  twelve- 
mile  walk,  and  a  bad  supper  after  another  twelve  miles.  In 
all  my  travels  on  foot,  twenty-four  miles  was  my  ordinary 
day's  march,  there  being  exceptions  of  course  due  to  the  con- 
venience or  inconvenience  of  stopping  places.  I  have  walked, 
on  one  or  two  occasions,  as  far  as  forty  miles.  Unlike  most 
other  travelers,  I  always  wore  well-fitting  boots,  as  keeping 
out  dust  and  moisture  better  than  shoes.  We  reached  Coburg, 
an  interesting  and  delightful  place,  and  passed  over  the 
Bavarian  frontier,  where,  at  the  first  village,  we  treated  our- 
selves to  some  very  fine  Bamberg  beer.  I  might  fill  pages  with 
a  description  of  the  delightful  valley  of  the  Itz  and  of  the 
splendid  old  city  of  Bamberg,  in  the  Regnitz  valley,  surround- 
ed by  castles  and  richly  built  monasteries ;  but  as  I  am  writ- 
ing no  Baedeker  or  Murray  handbook,  I  refrain.  That  I  vis- 
ited the  celebrated  old  Dom  and  many  other  old  churches,  was 
a  matter  of  course.  I  also  met  Titus,  a  most  noble  fellow,  who 
was  heart  and  soul  a  patriot,  and  much  noted  afterwards.  If 
I  mistake  not,  he  was  a  member  of  the  first  German  Parlia- 
ment, in  1848. 

Along  the  valley  of  the  Regnitz  we  came  to  Erlangen. 
The  weather  was  beautiful,  the  beer  the  best  we  had  thus  far 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  93 

ever  drunk,  and  the  students  there  were  most  jovial  and  ex- 
cellent fellows.  We  spent  three  glorious  days  with  them,  and 
drove  to  Nuremberg,  the  most  unique  city  in  all  Germany. 
In  Frankfort  there  are  perhaps  a  dozen  houses  and  a  few 
churches  that  take  you  back  to  the  Middle  Ages.  But  Nurem- 
berg at  that  time  was  the  Middle  Age  itself.  Of  course  we  saw 
everything  of  interest,  and  hardly  knew  what  to  admire  most. 
Next  to  the  noblest  churches  in  Germany  and  the  fountains 
and  other  monuments  of  the  sculptors  Krafft,  Vischer  and 
Stoss,  I  was  most  delighted  with  the  picture  galleries  con- 
taining some  very  fine  Duerers  and  also  some  Van  Dykes  and 
Teniers.  There  was  a  curious  Venus  by  Lucas  Cranach,  very 
realistic,  but  so  much  so  that  no  one  would  have  taken  her 
for  the  goddess  of  beauty.  In  spite  of  our  art-enthusiasm 
we  did  not  overlook  the  table  d'hote  at  the  Golden  Cock,  and 
the  dainty  little  lunch  room,  called,  I  believe,  the  Gloecklein 
(Little  Bell)  where  at  lunch  hours  one  might  find  the  patric- 
ians and  the  officers  of  the  garrison,  as  well  as  the  plain  burgh- 
er and  the  mechanic,  discussing  the  most  delicate  Nuremberg 
sausages  with  trimmings,  and  drinking  the  excellent  mild 
Erlanger  beer.  The  old  splendor  of  the  Imperial  City,  once 
the  center  of  almost  all  the  European  trade,  a  state  within 
itself,  sought  in  alliance  by  the  most  powerful  princes,  the 
seat  of  learning  and  of  the  highest  mediaeval  art,  is  gone ;  but 
still,  with  its  patrician  and  imperial  palaces,  its  once  impreg- 
nable fortifications,  its  grand  churches  and  other  monuments, 
and  the  recollections  of  its  glorious  past,  it  leaves  an  indelible 
impression  upon  all  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  visit  it. 

From  Nuremberg  down  to  Munich,  the  country  with  few 
exceptions  is  uninteresting,  and  presents  no  scenery  worth 
seeing.  So  we  took  the  coach  to  Munich.  One  exception  is  the 
valley  of  Altmuehl,  in  which  lies  Eichstaedt,  a  bishopric  with 
an  Episcopal  palace  and  large  cathedral,  and  crowned  by  the 
Wilibaldsburg,  an  old  castle  on  a  high  hill.  The  country 
around  Eichstaedt  is  delightful.  It  reminded  me  of  Heidelberg. 
We  stayed  there  all  night,  and  Goeden  fell  in  love  with  a  wait- 


94  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

er  girl  called  Nanni,  who  was  really  handsome,  but  who,  as  I 
discovered,  was  more  accessible  to  the  blandishments  of  our 
coachman  than  to  those  of  my  friend. 

MUNICH 

At  Ingolstadt  we  crossed  the  Donau  on  a  stone  bridge, 
and  the  next  day  at  noon  reached  Munich.  Vacation  had 
begun,  and  not  many  members  of  our  society  had  remained, 
but  there  were  enough  for  excellent  company.  Our  quarters 
were  assigned  with  some  of  the  resident  students.  Their  club- 
house was  on  a  fine  avenue  between  the  Carls  and  Sendlinger 
Gates.  Its  name  was  the  Rosengarten. 

The  city  itself  lies  in  a  plain  which  is  quite  arid  and 
monotonous;  only  on  the  farther  bank  of  the  Isar  are  there 
heights.  It  has  a  singular  resemblance  in  situation  to  Madrid. 
The  Isar  is  a  rapid  mountain-stream  like  the  Manzanares,  run- 
ning close  by  Munich,  as  the  Manzanares  does  by  Madrid. 
Neither  of  the  rivers  is  navigable,  and  only  princely  caprice 
could  have  selected  the  places  as  capitals,  in  what  must  have 
been  in  the  beginning  a  sandy  desert  waste.  The  great  for- 
ests near  both  places,  furnishing  most  ample  hunting  grounds, 
undoubtedly  determined  the  selection.  Both  sites  were  out 
of  the  highway  of  commerce.  Both  are  the  highest  cities  in 
their  countries:  Munich  1,000  feet;  Madrid  2,400.  Both  have 
been  surrounded  by  gardens  and  parks  of  great  dimensions, 
and  both  command  a  very  fine  view  of  ranges  of  mountains 
from  many  points  in  and  outside  of  the  city.  The  Bavarian 
Alps  in  an  extension  of  some  forty  miles  are  to  be  seen  to  the 
south.  The  celebrated  Untersberg  near  Salzburg,  and  other 
high  peaks  from  6,000  to  8,000  feet  high,  close  the  view  on 
the  east,  and  the  Zugspitz  and  the  Wetterstein,  of  about  the 
same  height,  loom  up  in  the  west.  At  about  an  equal  distance 
north  of  Madrid  are  the  bold  mountains  of  Guadarama,  — 
both  ranges  during  most  of  the  year  being  snow-capped.  The 
rivers,  the  artificial  promenades  and  gardens,  the  enchanting 
views  of  the  mountains,  make  the  two  cities  at  present  bear- 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  95 

able,  and  even  pleasant.  We  made  many  excursions  to  the 
surrounding  villages,  and,  considering  ourselves  as  mere  tour- 
ists, and  not  knowing  that  we  should  ever  see  the  place  again, 
we  very  conscientiously  visited  all  points  of  interest,  and  saw 
more  of  the  city  than  many  of  our  friends  had  done  in  a  year 
or  two  of  residence. 

The  new  royal  palace  was  just  building.  The  Pinakothek 
was  also  in  the  first  stage  of  construction.  Neither  the  church 
of  St.  Louis  nor  of  St.  Boniface  yet  existed,  nor  hundreds  of 
the  splendid  buildings  and  monuments  which  now  make  Mun- 
ich one  of  the  most  interesting  cities  in  the  world.  More  than 
by  the  statuary  in  the  Glyptothek,  fine  as  it  was,  I  was  at- 
tracted by  the  picture-gallery  in  the  Hofgarten.  In  fullness 
and  beauty,  and  so  far  as  the  Flemish  and  Netherland  schools 
are  concerned,  as  also  old  German  pictures,  it  is  superior  to 
any  gallery  I  have  seen,  the  one  in  Madrid  not  excepted.  The 
Italian  painters  are  not  largely  represented,  and  I  should  say 
in  none  of  their  masterpieces.  Of  Murillo's  there  are  his 
excellent  pictures  of  Spanish  Street  Life,  the  Beggar  Boys, 
etc.,  admirably  done,  but  giving  no  idea  of  the  divine  Murillo's 
art.  Of  course,  I  could  not  devote  as  much  time  to  this  gallery 
as  I  should  have  liked,  for  it  was  not  open  every  day.  At  that 
time  there  was  still  at  Munich  the  Leuchtenberg  gallery,  col- 
lected by  Eugene  Beauharnais,  while  Viceroy  of  Italy.  It  was 
not  a  large  collection  but  very  select,  and  here  I  found  one  of 
Murillo's  Madonnas  with  the  child  at  her  breast,  which  at 
once  struck  me  as  wonderful,  and  made  me  worship  the  master 
long  before  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  admire  some  hundreds 
of  his  best  works  in  Madrid  and  Seville.  It  contained  also  a 
Raphael,  a  Rembrandt,  a  Paul  Veronese,  a  Velasquez,  a  Van 
Dyke,  and  many  choice  modern  pictures. 

Here  also  were  the  celebrated  Three  Graces  (original)  by 
Canova.  This  gallery  has  since  been  removed  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  on  my  last  visit  to  Munich  in  1863,  when  my  love 
of  pictures  had  almost  become  a  passion,  I  much  regretted  its 
absence.  I  met  in  Munich,  by  accident,  Louis  Agassiz.  I 


96  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

was  introduced  by  one  of  my  new  friends  to  a  Mr.  Schemper, 
who  became  afterwards  celebrated  as  a  naturalist,  and  Mr. 
Agassiz  happened  to  be  with  him.  He  was  then,  after  attend- 
ing the  Universities  of  Zurich  and  Heidelberg,  pursuing  his 
studies  in  botany,  geology,  philosophy,  and  the  sister  sciences 
in  Munich.  He  was  a  noble-looking  man,  about  twenty-four 
years  of  age,  dark-eyed,  and  dark-haired,  with  a  fine  and 
healthy  complexion,  and  full  of  vivacity.  Learning  that  I  was 
going  into  the  mountains,  he  had  Schemper  get  me  two  tol- 
erably large  phials,  filled  with  alcohol,  and  begged  me  to  col- 
lect for  him  all  the  bugs,  spiders,  and  insects  I  could  find  on 
my  way.  ' '  When  you  walk  through  the  timber  and  find  a  fallen 
stump  of  a  tree,  or  walk  over  rocks,  just  lift  them,"  said  he, 
"and  you  will  find  plenty  of  such  creatures  as  I  want."  1 
took  the  phials,  promising  to  do  my  best,  —  a  promise,  how- 
ever,  which  I  did  not  conscientiously  fulfill.  I  forgot  all  about 
it,  and  did  not  think  of  it  until  we  started  to  return  to  Munich, 
when,  passing  through  the  large  forest  called  the  Hirsch  Gar- 
ten, I  made  the  wagon  stop,  got  down,  scratched  up  the  black 
ground  underneath  some  trees,  and  filled  the  phials  with 
worms  and  bugs.  But  I  am  afraid  that  they  were  nearly  all 
of  the  same  kind,  and  very  common  at  that.  I  expect,  how- 
ever, that  when  I  left  them  with  Schemper,  Agassiz  had  for- 
gotten all  about  it,  and  never  discovered  my  faithlessness. 

I  made  another  acquaintance  in  Munich  which  in  a  great 
measure  shaped  the  destiny  of  my  life.  It  was  Theodore  En- 
gelmann,  who  then  studied  law  in  Munich.  He  was  from  the 
Rhenish  Palatinate,  had  been  in  Heidelberg,  but  had  left  that 
place  in  the  fall  of  1828,  when  the  celebrated  exodus  of  stu- 
dents took  place  of  which  I  have  already  spoken.  He  seemed 
to  take  a  great  liking  to  Goeden  and  me,  and  from  what  he 
heard  us  say  about  Jena,  he  told  us  that  he  had  some  notion 
to  leave  Munich  and  try  that  place.  He  had  come  to  no  defin- 
ite conclusion,  however,  when  I  left  Munich  for  Salzburg. 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  97 

SALZBURG  AND  THE  TYROL 

Originally  we  had  intended  to  go  no  farther  south  than 
Munich.  But  the  mountains  had  so  wonderful  an  attraction 
to  me  that  I  determined  to  make  a  tour  at  least  to  Salzburg, 
only  a  hundred  miles  from  Munich.  But  Goeden  was  enjoy- 
ing himself  at  Munich,  and  would  not  join  me.  Another  stu- 
dent, however,  from  Erlangen,  by  the  name  of  Funk,  who  was 
on  a  visit  to  Munich,  and  a  member  of  the  Burschenschaft, 
offered  himself  as  a  companion,  and  so  one  fine  morning  we 
left.  For  some  miles  southeast  of  Munich,  and  until  one  gets 
to  the  foothills,  the  country  is  uninteresting.  At  Aibling  we 
went  to  an  inn  to  refresh  ourselves.  We  found  there  at  the 
table,  taking  beer  and  eating  bread  and  cheese,  a  party  of 
three:  a  gentleman  about  thirty  years  of  age,  and  two  hand- 
some boys,  one  about  fourteen  and  the  other  nine  or  ten.  They 
wore  blouses  as  we  did,  of  somewhat  finer  material,  those  of 
the  boys  being  embroidered.  The  man  had  a  knapsack  and 
the  boys  cylindrical  tin  boxes,  —  botanical  boxes  as  they  were 
called,  —  in  which  they  carried  their  change  of  linen  and  trav- 
eling utensils.  We  sat  down  at  the  same  table,  ordered  the 
same  refreshments,  and,  as  is  the  custom  in  Germany,  saluted 
the  guests,  and  entered  upon  a  conversation  with  the  gentle- 
man. We  were  told  that  they  had  come  from  a  neighboring 
village  where  there  was  a  pretty  waterfall,  and  that  they  were 
bound  for  Rosenheim,  which  was  on  our  route,  to  take  a  look 
at  the  extensive  salt-works  there  (Salinen).  We  started  to- 
gether, and  while  my  friend  from  Erlangen  talked  to  the  boys, 
I  had  quite  an  interesting  conversation  with  their  tutor,  as  he 
turned  out  to  be.  He  was  desirous  to  learn  something  of  our 
northern  Universities,  which  he  had  never  visited,  and  I  got 
much  information  from  him  about  Munich  and  its  people.  I 
spoke  of  the  boys  as  being  apparently  very  well  mannered  and 
sprightly.  He  then  told  me  that  he  had  been  their  tutor  for 
many  years,  and  was  now  making  excursions  with  them 
through  the  neighborhood ;  that  they  were  brought  up  like  all 


98  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

other  boys  of  the  better  class,  and  had  no  pride  of  their  station. 
And  in  the  course  of  our  talk  it  came  out  that  the  oldest  was 
Prince  Otto,  afterwards  King  of  Greece,  and  the  other  Prince 
Luitpold,  who  is  now,  I  believe,  the  Prince  Regent  of  Bavaria, 
—  both  sons  of  the  "Poet  King,"  Louis  I.  Their  older 
brother,  Maxmilian  II,  who,  on  the  abdication  of  Louis  I, 
became  King  of  Bavaria,  was  then  studying  law  at  Goettingen. 
He  left  Louis  II  and  Otto  as  his  children.  Louis,  on  the  early 
death  of  Maxmilian  II,  became  Louis  II,  whose  aberration  of 
mind  led  to  his  tragic  death  in  the  lake  of  Starnberg.  Otto, 
who  should  have  followed  him  on  the  throne,  was  a  natural 
idiot,  and  though  he  has  the  name  of  King,  is  confined,  and 
Luitpold,  his  uncle,  is  regent  of  Bavaria. 

At  Rosenheim  they  stopped;  and,  after  a  short  visit  to 
the  Salines,  which  were  no  new  thing  to  me,  as  I  had  seen  the 
same  thing  at  Kreuznach  and  Soden,  we  crossed  the  Inn,  went 
on  our  way  through  mountains  and  forests,  passing  by  a  beau- 
tiful little  lake  called  Simmsee,  through  Weisenheim,  where  we 
stopped  all  night,  to  Seebruck,  on  the  shore  of  the  largest  lake 
of  Bavaria,  the  beautiful  Chiemsee.  We  took  a  boat  which 
brought  us  to  Herrenwoerth,  the  largest  of  the  three  islands  in 
the  lake,  where  there  is  a  monastery.  It  is  here  that  Louis  II 
built  the  enormous  palace  that  cost  so  many  millions,  the  pro- 
duct of  an  inordinate  imagination.  The  lake  is  encircled  by 
some  of  the  finest  mountains  of  the  Bavarian  and  Tyrolese 
Alps,  five  and  six  thousand  feet  high.  Even  the  Gaisberg  near 
Salzburg  is  visible.  Indeed  there  are  few  finer  views  to  be 
seen  anywhere  than  on  this  lake.  We  took  a  boat  from  Her- 
renwoerth, rowed  by  two  stout  and  handsome  maids  in  their 
beautiful  national  costumes,  and  crossed,  a  distance  of  about 
twelve  miles,  to  a  little  village,  where  we  took  the  road  again 
to  Salzburg. 

It  was  quite  dark  when  we  landed,  and  as  the  road  was 
mostly  through  timber,  we  came  very  near  losing  our  way  sev- 
eral times.  We  arrived  at  the  town  of  Traunstein  on  the 
Traun  river  late  at  night  and  very  much  fatigued.  My  expe- 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  99 

rience  is  that  traveling  at  night  on  foot  is  far  more  tiresome 
and  exhausting  than  in  daytime,  even  in  warm  weather.  My 
explanation  is  that  there  is  nothing  at  night  to  attract  one's 
attention  and  divert  one 's  thoughts  from  the  mere  mechanical 
movement  of  the  body.  In  daytime  there  is  the  surrounding 
scenery  that  catches  one's  observation;  one  meets  interesting 
people,  and  the  air  is  less  oppressive. 

As  we  had  a  hard  task  before  us  the  next  day  to  reach 
Salzburg,  we  got  up  very  early  in  the  morning.  The  distance 
was  nearly  thirty-five  miles.  In  the  afternoon  we  arrived  at 
the  Austrian  custom-house  and  frontier.  As  we  had  no  reg- 
ular passports,  we  had  all  along  been  somewhat  uneasy.  We 
had  been  told  at  Munich  by  some  that  without  a  passport 
viseed  by  the  Austrian  legation  at  Munich,  we  should  be  turned 
back.  Others  were  of  opinion  that  students  travelling  for 
pleasure  would  be  admitted.  As  we  were  not  residents  of 
Munich,  we  could  get  no  passports  from  the  Bavarian  authori- 
ties. But  we  had  our  certificates  of  matriculation:  I  from 
Jena,  and  my  companion  from  Erlangen,  written  in  Latin  with 
a  big  seal.  Our  hearts  fluttered  a  little  as  we  were  met  by  an 
Austrian  gens  d'arme  at  the  barrier  whoasekd  us  for  our  pass- 
ports. I  showed  him  our  certificates,  and  the  Latin  of  it 
struck  him  with  a  sort  of  awe,  while  the  seal,  as  large  as  a  dol- 
lar, pasted  to  it,  seemed  to  remove  all  doubts  from  his  mind. 
"The  Herren  may  pass."  Then  came  a  custom-house  officer: 
"Have  you  anything  dutiable?"  "No.  Except  the  tobacco 
we  have  in  our  pouches  which  hang  at  our  girdles  round  our 
blouses."  "Then  you  need  not  pay  any  duty."  He  wished 
us  a  "Glueckliehe  Reise,"  and  so  we  tramped  on  with  easy 
hearts. 

It  would  have  been  hard  if  we  had  been  turned  away  at 
the  gates  of  Paradise ;  for  a  paradise  it  was  which  had  opened 
up  to  us  for  the  last  half  of  our  way.  There  was  at  our  right 
the  steep,  rocky  Untersberg,  celebrated  in  song  and  fabled  in 
history  as  containing  inaccessible  caves  in  which  the  old  Em- 
peror Barbarossa  slept,  waiting  to  awake  on  the  restoration  of 


100  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNEE 

the  great  German  Empire.  The  same  myth  locates  the  great 
Emperor  in  the  Kyffhauser  near  the  Hartz  Mountains,  and 
this  version  is  generally  accepted  as  better  authenticated. 
Right  before  us  were  the  beautiful  heights  which  surround 
Salzburg,  on  one  of  which  is  a  large  Capuchin  monastery,  on 
the  other  the  fortress  of  Hohen-Salzburg.  In  the  background 
rises  the  beautiful  Gaisberg,  some  four  thousand  feet  high, 
from  which  the  view  into  the  lovely  regions  of  the  Salzkam- 
ergut  is  of  magical  beauty.  I  may  be  pardoned  in  giving  a 
sentence  or  two  as  to  Salzburg  from  the  excellent  handbook 
for  travellers  in  southern  Germany  by  Murray.  "It  is  to  its 
surroundings,"  it  says,  "that  Salzburg  owes  its  chief  attrac- 
tions. It  is  impossible  to  give  in  a  verbal  description  any  sat- 
isfactory idea  of  the  romantic  beauties  of  the  surrounding  dis- 
trict; it  is  hardly  possible  to  exaggerate  them.  Salzburg  is 
allowed  by  common  consent,  to  be  the  most  beautiful  spot  in 
Germany,  and  many  travelers  will  not  hesitate  to  prefer  the 
scenery  of  the  surrounding  mountains,  lakes  and  valleys  to  the 
finest  parts  of  Switzerland.  From  many  points  on  the  heights 
you  can  see  the  glaciers  and  highest  peaks  of  the  Noric  and 
Tyrolese  Alps." 

The  sun  was  sinking  when  we  entered  the  city.  I  was 
very  tired,  and  when  we  came  upon  the  cobble-stone  pavement, 
my  feet  felt  like  fire,  and  I  could  hardly  draw  myself  along 
to  the  hotel  recommended  to  us,  which  was  pretty  far  from 
where  we  entered  on  the  other  side  of  the  River  Salzach.  But 
a  good  supper,  a  thorough  bathing  of  my  feet  in  spirits  of  alco- 
hol, and  a  good  night's  rest,  made  me  fresh  in  the  morning  and 
able  to  give  the  city  and  its  environs  a  good  inspection. 

The  city  itself  has  an  Italian  aspect.  The  episcopal  pal- 
ace, the  cathedral,  and  many  other  palaces  are  built  in  the 
best  Italian  Rennaisance  style.  Many  houses  have  flat  roofs 
and  marble  fronts.  They  are  nearly  all  painted  white.  We 
saw  Mozart's  house;  and  that  of  Theophrastus  Paracelsus, 
and  visited  the  fine  gardens  and  chateaux  near  the  city.  In 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  101 

the  principal  square  is  one  of  the  finest  fountains  in  the  world. 
To  a  northerner  the  place  has  a  peculiar  charm. 

From  Salzburg,  round  the  foot  of  the  Untersberg,  we 
went  to  Berchtesgaden,  and  visited  the  salt  mines  disguised  as 
miners.  There  is  an  immense  basin  in  the  interior,  filled  with 
water  which  dissolves  the  salt  rock,  and  the  brine  is  carried  for 
miles  by  immense  pumpworks,  over  high  mountains  to  Reich- 
enhall,  and  from  there  to  Rosenheim,  where  it  is  boiled  into 
salt.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  at  the  latter  place  there  is  an 
abundance  of  timber,  while  there  is  none  to  spare  in  the  valley 
of  the  Ach  where  Berchtesgaden  is  situated.  Berchtesgaden 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  places  in  the  Tyrolean  Alps,  and 
the  excursion  to  the  King's  Lake  (Koenigsee)  is  equal  to 
almost  any  tour  in  Switzerland.  The  lake,  of  deepest  green, 
is  enclosed  by  steep  rocks,  with  almost  no  landing  places.  The 
Watzmann,  on  the  left  side,  with  its  glaciers  throws  a  deep 
shade  over  the  waters  of  the  lake.  There  are  really  two  Watz- 
mann Mountains,  separated  by  a  valley;  the  highest  peak  is 
over  8,000  feet.  Good-looking  girls  rowed  us  to  an  isle  where 
there  was  a  hunting  chateau.  The  mountains  abound  in  cham- 
ois. We  had  a  splendid  dinner  of  trout,  then  rowed  to  the 
southeast  of  the  lake  where  a  large  brook  comes  down  a  thou- 
sand feet  from  the  mountains,  forming  a  most  beautiful  water- 
fall. I  was  so  enchanted  by  the  scenery  of  Berchtesgaden  and 
the  Koenigsee  that  I  made  a  vow  to  return  to  it,  if  life  was 
spared  me  a  reasonable  time. 

We  now  turned  back  towards  Munich.  A  wonderfully 
picturesque  road  took  us  from  Berchtesgaden  to  Reichenhall. 
Here  we  met  Wuestenfeldt,  a  student  from  Goettingen,  bound 
for  a  tour  into  the  Austrian  Tyrol.  He  painted  the  beauties 
of  the  Inn  valley,  and  of  Innspruck  and  environs,  in  such  glow- 
ing colors,  that  I  concluded  to  leave  my  companion  to  return 
alone  to  Munich,  and  to  accompany  Wuestenfeldt.  Indeed  it 
was  a  most  interesting  journey.  We  traversed  the  deep  val- 
leys where  the  Tyrolese  had  met  the  French  and  Bavarians  in 
1809 ;  almost  every  village  and  town  we  passed  had  been  the 


102 

scene  of  terrible  conflicts,  and  some  places,  as  the  town  of 
Schwatz,  for  instance,  were  still  partly  in  ruins,  having  been 
burnt  by  the  French.  The  Lofer  Pass,  the  Strub  Pass,  were 
the  scene  of  the  most  deadly  strifes.  The  mountains,  thou- 
sands of  feet  in  height,  came  often  so  close  together  that  there 
was  barely  room  for  a  wagon-road.  These  gorges  are  what  we 
call  canons. 

We  saw  several  splendid  waterfalls  on  our  way.  We  had 
to  stop  mostly  at  small  inns.  In  the  evening  young  girls  and 
men  would  come  into  the  guest-room,  play  on  the  zither,  and 
sing  for  their  own  amusement.  We  found  all  the  people  at 
that  time  very  unsophisticated.  The  Bavarian,  Noric,  and 
Tyrolese  Alps  were,  in  1829,  not  thronged  with  tourists ;  there 
were  no  hotels  except  in  the  large  cities,  and  even  there  they 
were  on  the  "bourgeois"  order,  while  no  outlandish  names  dis- 
figured the  wonderful  natural  scenery.  We  saw  the  people,  I 
may  say,  "aw  naturel."  Making  a  detour  in  the  celebrated 
Ziller-Thal,  renowned  for  the  beauty  of  its  inhabitants  and 
their  musical  talents,  we  stopped  over  night  at  Zell,  the  princi- 
pal place  of  that  most  beautiful  valley. 

It  was  Sunday  night,  and  a  dance  was  in  progress  in 
the  large  room  of  the  inn  on  the  second  floor.  The  people 
danced  like  mad,  the  boys  throwing  the  girls  from  time  to  time 
four  or  five  feet  high.  And  that  was  no  small  feat,  for  the 
girls  were  all  heavy-weights.  We  joined  in  the  dance,  but 
did  not  venture  on  the  throwing.  At  Rattenberg  we  reached 
the  Inn,  a  beautiful,  clear  mountain-stream,  its  banks  studded 
with  chateaux  and  monasteries  and  ruins  of  old  castles.  We 
mixed  with  the  people ;  they  sang  to  us ;  and  we  sang  our  best 
Burschenschaft  songs  for  them.  In  Zell,  I  bought  one  of  those 
conical,  green,  Tyrolese  hats,  which  I  wore  through  the  moun- 
tains, and  later  on  in  the  summer  at  Jena,  where  every  one 
could  dress  as  he  pleased. 

At  Innspruck  we  stopped  at  the  Eagle,  the  inn  from 
which  Hofer  used  to  address  the  people.  Some  of  his  homely 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  103 

proclamations  were  kept  under  glass  in  a  frame,  and  hung  up 
on  the  walls  of  the  guest-room. 

I  must  forbear  giving  a  description  of  Innspruck.  Its 
situation  as  to  beauty  beggars  description.  Like  Salzburg,  it 
has  much  of  an  Italian  look ;  the  houses  having  often  flat  roofs 
and  arcades  in  front  of  the  lower  stories.  The  Franciscaner 
Kirche  contains  perhaps  the  finest  monument  in  Europe,  the 
tomb  of  Maximilian  I.  In  my  brief  notebook  of  the  journey 
three  signs  of  exclamation  follow  the  words ' '  Tomb  of  Max.  I. ' ' 
I  have  seen  the  celebrated  tombs  of  St.  Ferdinand  in  Seville, 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  in  Granada ;  but  they  bear  no  com- 
parison with  that  of  Maximilian  I.  The  Emperor  kneeling  on 
the  sarcophagus  is  surrounded  by  at  least  thirty  colossal 
bronze  statues,  representing  amongst  others  Philip  I  of  Spain 
and  his  wife  Joanna,  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  Charles  the  Bold, 
Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  and  Godfrey  of  Bouillon.  The  bas 
reliefs  on  the  marble  sarcophagus  represent  important  events 
of  Maximilian's  life.  Nearly  all  of  them  were  carved  by  the 
eminent  sculptor,  Colins  of  Mecheln.  In  the  same  church  is 
the  modest  tomb  of  Andreas  Hof  er,  with  the  simple  inscription 
on  the  stone  under  which  his  ashes  rest :  ' '  Here  rests  in  God 
Andreas  Hofer.  A.  D.  1809."  Since  my  visit  I  believe  a 
splendid  monument  has  been  erected  over  or  near  the  tomb 
of  the  old  hero. 

We  left  Innspruck  for  Zirl,  at  the  foot  of  the  Martins- 
wand,  a  perpendicular  rock  some  three  thousand  feet  high. 
Stopping  all  night  at  Zirl,  we  found  a  dance  going  on  like 
that  at  Zell.  We  had  no  trouble  in  getting  partners.  There 
was  a  ludicrous  scene.  A  Frenchman,  a  painter,  when  he 
saw  us  getting  on  so  well,  thought  he,  too,  would  try  his  luck, 
got  a  partner,  whirled,  or  rather  was  whirled  round  by  her 
several  times,  and  got  so  dizzy  that  he  would  have  fallen  down, 
if  the  girl  had  not  taken  hold  of  him  and  carried  him  to  a 
bench  near  the  wall.  He  might  have  been  an  elegant  dancer 
in  a  quadrille  in  the  Students'  Quarter  at  Paris,  but  he  swore 
that  he  would  never  try  the  waltz  again.  The  Tyrolean 


104  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

dances,  however,  are  not  carried  on  exactly  as  in  our  ball- 
rooms. From  time  to  time  the  cavalier  lets  his  partner  go, 
claps  his  hand  on  his  leather  breeches,  crouching  down,  gives 
a  yell,  springs  up  again,  grabs  his  partner  and  throws  her  sky 
high.  Every  man  is  expected  to  treat  his  partner  after  each 
dance  with  a  seidel  (pint)  of  the  Veltlin  wine,  almost  the  only 
beverage  in  use  there.  It  is  of  light-red  color,  sweet  and  not 
strong,  and  very  pleasant  to  take. 

Early  next  morning  we  took  a  guide  to  go  up  the  Martins- 
wand.  Of  course,  one  cannot  attack  the  perpendicular  wall  in 
front,  but  must  assail  it  on  the  flanks.  Zigzag  paths  lead  to 
the  highest  peak.  Our  goal  was  the  spot  where  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian, in  pursuing  a  chamois,  and  losing  his  footing,  had 
rolled  down  from  above,  landing  on  a  small  ledge  of  a  pro- 
truding rock,  above  a  precipice  some  eight  hundred  feet  deep. 
It  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  move  a  step  without  imminent 
danger  of  destruction.  He  could  be  distinctly  seen  from  the 
valley  below.  A  priest  had  the  funeral  service  performed 
below,  and  absolution  was  given  the  Emperor  "in  extremis." 
A  bold  mountaineer,  however,  came  to  his  rescue,  and  at  the 
imminent  risk  of  his  own  life  saved  him.  The  legend  is  that 
it  was  an  angel  of  the  Lord  that  relieved  him.  There  was  then 
only  a  small  cross  on  the  spot,  and  a  most  perilous  narrow 
rough  path  had  been  cut  in  the  rocks  leading  to  it.  The  rock 
was  a  sheer  perpendicular  one,  and  no  one  given  to  giddiness 
ought  ever  to  venture  to  it.  Probably  there  is  a  safe  way  to  it 
now,  but  in  1829  we  went  by  paths  as  dangerous  as  I  ever  trav- 
elled in  the  Swiss  Alps  or  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  took  us 
a  full  hour  to  reach  the  place. 

The  view  towards  Innspruck  and  the  surrounding  moun- 
tains, some  nine  thousand  feet  high,  was  splendid ;  but  we  soon 
retired,  as  it  took  a  good  deal  of  nerve  to  stand  on  our  point  of 
observation.  The  descent  was  also  very  dangerous  and  most 
fatiguing.  Our  guide  wanted  to  take  us  down  by  a  short  cut, 
which  was  really  no  path  at  all,  but  the  dried-up  bed  of  a  rivu- 
let, or  rather  gutter,  hollowed  out  by  waters  from  the  moun- 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  105 

tains.  The  bottom  was  sand  and  gravel,  on  which  we  some- 
times slipped  downward  involuntarily  for  several  rods,  and 
only  saved  ourselves  from  a  pereipitous  descent  by  stemming 
our  downward  movement  with  our  big  Alpine  stocks.  My 
friend  Wuestenfeldt,  who  was  rather  high-tempered,  cursed 
the  guide  roundly,  and  made  him  so  angry  by  his  abuse 
that,  if  I  had  not  interfered,  they  would  have  come  to  blows. 
We  came  to  Zirl  rather  demoralized,  and  concluded  that  the 
whole  excursion,  made  so  much  of  by  the  landlord  of  Zirl, 
and  by  romantic  tourists,  was  rather  a  humbug  or  "sell,"  as 
the  slang  phrase  is. 

BACK  TO  JENA 

I  parted  company  here  from  Wuestenfeldt.  He  wanted 
to  go  farther  up  the  valley.  But  I  wished  to  stay  a  few  days 
more  in  Munich  and  Erlangen,  and  my  time  was  limited  if  I 
was  to  reach  Jena  at  the  commencement  of  the  lectures.  I  was 
also  short  of  money,  having  left  a  part  of  my  allowance  at 
Munich.  Indeed,  after  leaving  Zirl  I  had  only  about  a  half 
a  dollar  left,  and  had  yet  to  travel  about  ninety  miles.  The 
road,  an  old  Roman  highway,  is  kept  in  the  most  perfect  order, 
and  rises  abruptly  toward  Seefeld,  some  four  thousand  feet 
high,  where  there  is  a  divide  between  the  Inn  and  the  Isar.  It 
was  about  twelve  miles  to  Seefeld,  and  when  I  had  gone  about 
half  way  up  the  long  ascent  I  was  so  tired,  (we  had  taken  the 
exhausting  trip  to  Martinswand  in  the  morning,)  that,  in  spite 
of  the  leanness  of  my  purse,  I  got  into  a  little  wagon  that  over- 
took me  and  paid  the  Tyrolese  boy  that  drove  it  fifteen  cents, 
leaving  me  about  thirty-five  cents  for  the  remainder  of  my 
trip.  At  Seefeld  I  took  only  a  couple  of  hard  eggs  and  some 
bread  for  supper,  in  the  morning  a  soft  boiled  egg,  some  rolls 
and  a  glass  of  Kirschwasser.  To  my  delight,  I  could  pay 
for  my  meals  and  lodging  and  had  about  five  cents  left  for  a 
couple  of  glasses  of  beer  on  the  day 's  march.  I  had,  however, 
a  silver  watch  with  me  and  by  pledging  it  at  the  next  tavern, 
I  expected  to  raise  money  enough  to  get  me  to  Munich.  Still, 


106  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

I  moved  on  through  the  wonderful  morning  and  the  inspiring 
scenery  that  opened  before  me,  when  descending  into  the  Isar 
valley,  in  a  rather  depressed  mood,  I  had  not  walked  more  than 
six  or  eight  miles  and  passed  Scharniz,  an  ancient  fort,  and 
the  frontier  of  Bavaria,  when  a  big  open  farmer's  wagon, 
with  four  rough  seats,  drawn  by  four  stout  horses,  overtook  me. 
Besides  the  driver,  it  held  four  Munich  students  on  their 
return  from  their  vacation.  They  were  in  high  glee,  singing 
and  shouting.  They  did  not  belong  to  my  society,  but  in  my 
situation  I  did  not  stand  much  on  exclusiveness.  I  halloed 
to  the  driver  to  stop,  and  asked  the  students  if  there  was  more 
room  left,  and  whether  I  could  not  ride  with  them  to  Munich. 
They  said,  "Yes.  If  the  driver  will  take  you."  They  had 
hired  the  concern,  everyone  paying  so  much.  The  driver  was 
more  than  willing ;  but,  in  order  to  relieve  myself  at  once  from 
all  anxiety,  I  told  the  driver  I  was  out  of  money,  could  only 
pay  him  at  Munich,  and  that  he  would  have  to  pay  my  bills  on 
the  way.  He  shook  his  head  a  little  at  this.  But  the  students 
at  once  said:  "Never  mind.  We  will  pay  the  driver  and 
what  you  want  on  the  way.  You  can  pay  us  back  at  Munich. " 
They  saw  my  ribbon  and  knew  at  once  that  they  were  safe 
enough  in  trusting  me. 

We  passed  through  a  most  picturesque  country  —  through 
Mittenwald,  celebrated  for  the  fabrication  of  violins,  and  Par- 
tenkirchen,  where  we  had  a  most  splendid  view  of  the  Wetter- 
stein  and  the  Zugspitze,  over  nine  thousand  feet  high.  We 
had  several  charming  vistas  of  the  Starnberger  lake.  Some 
five  or  six  miles  before  we  reached  Munich  the  country  is  unin- 
teresting. It  is  all  forest,  and  known  as  the  Hirschgarten,  — 
fine  ground  for  hunting  deer  and  wild  boars. 

I  now  stayed  only  two  days  in  Munich,  visited  the  picture 
galleries  again,  and  also  the  theatres.  Goeden  had  already 
left,  accompanied  by  Theodore  Engelmann,  who  had  made  up 
his  mind  to  change  Munich  for  Jena.  I  went  back  by  the 
same  route  I  had  come,  by  Nuremberg  to  Erlangen,  where  I 
spent  a  few  days  most  joyously.  It  was  the  middle  of  May, 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  107 

the  weather  most  delightful,  my  friends  all  in  fine  spirits.  Lit- 
tle did  I  think  that  on  the  last  day  I  stayed  there,  I  should  be 
in  part  a  witness  of  a  most  affecting  scene.  Some  of  us,  —  it 
was  a  Sunday  afternoon,  May  15, 1829,  —  had  gone  to  a  neigh- 
boring village,  where  we  had  a  very  joyous  time.  Returning 
in  the  evening  to  our  club-house,  we  found  nearly  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Burschenschaft  there  in  the  greatest  excitement. 
One  of  the  most  popular,  high-spirited,  and  at  the  same  time 
most  jovial  fellows,  Wolf  of  Nuremberg,  with  whom  I  had 
become  very  intimate  on  my  first  visit,  and  who  had  taken  me 
to  Nuremberg,  had  just  been  brought  into  town  shot  dead  in  a 
duel.  At  least,  he  had  been  left  for  dead  by  the  seconds,  the 
physicians  having  procured  a  farmer  to  carry  the  corpse  into 
town  on  a  wagon.  Only  one  pistol  was  found  on  the  ground. 
But,  strange  to  say,  in  the  hospital  he  revived  for  a  short  time. 
I  went  to  see  him.  He  was  shot  through  the  neck.  He  recog- 
nized me  and  other  friends,  standing  round  the  bed,  but  he 
could  not  speak.  The  attending  physician  pronounced  the 
wound  mortal  and  that  no  help  on  the  field  could  have  done 
any  good.  He  died  a  short  time  after  I  left  him. 

It  cast  a  deep  gloom  over  the  whole  town.  Everybody 
had  liked  him.  His  adversary  belonged  to  the  secession  party 
of  the  Burschenschaft,  called  the  Arminia.  His  name,  I  be- 
lieve, was  Wagner,  from  Rhenish  Bavaria.  He  left  the  same 
night  and  fled  to  France.  Strange  to  say,  the  authorities 
never  found  out  anything  definite  about  this  duel,  witnessed 
by  two  seconds,  one  impartial  witness  and  a  physician.  They 
seemed  to  adopt  the  theory  of  suicide,  suggested  by  the  stu- 
dents, while  every  member  of  the  Germania  knew  all  about  it. 

When  I  started  next  morning  for  Jena,  one  of  the  most 
influential  members  of  the  Germania,  Heinkelmann  from  Bam- 
berg,  surprised  me  as  I  left  the  club-house,  where  I  had  break- 
fasted, by  telling  me  that  he  had  suddenly  made  up  his  mind 
to  go  to  Jena.  Of  course  I  had  my  suspicions  at  once  that  he 
had  been  Wolf's  second;  and  so  it  turned  out.  We  traveled 
very  fast  to  reach  the  frontier  of  Saxe-Coburg  where  we  should 


108  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNEB 

be  safe  at  least  for  a  few  days.  But  he  was  never  troubled. 
Though  we  went  in  the  most  delightful  weather  through  the 
fine  scenery  of  the  Thuringian  Mountains,  and  by  Saalfeld 
and  Rudolstadt  along  the  lovely  valley  of  the  Saale,  we  both 
felt  rather  melancholy,  and  our  minds  constantly  reverted  to 
the  sad  fate  of  our  friend  Wolf. 


CHAPTER  V 

Last  Year  at  Jena  (1829-1830) 

It  had  been  agreed  upon  between  Goeden  and  myself  that 
we  should  room  together  for  the  next  term.  He  had  already 
partly  engaged  a  residence,  a  very  romantic  one,  which  I  really 
did  not  like  to  take ;  but  he  was  so  pressing,  and  thought  it  so 
idyllic,  that  I  finally  reluctantly  consented.  It  was  Rhein- 
hard's  Garden  House,  on  a  very  shady  little  island  in  the 
Saale.  We  had  two  rooms,  decently  furnished ;  but  the  house 
was  rather  damp,  and  as  the  waiting-maid  had  to  come  from 
town  every  morning  from  the  house  of  the  owner,  our  break- 
fast was  often  late.  In  high  water  the  small  plank-bridge 
that  led  to  the  island  was  sometimes  submerged,  and  then  we 
had  to  use  a  boat  to  cross.  At  night,  the  place  being  outside 
of  the  city  limits,  and  the  neighborhood  not  lighted,  it  was 
very  inconvenient  to  walk  to. 

I  was  not  so  romantically  inclined  as  my  friend  Goeden, 
and  many  times  I  did  not  go  home,  but  stayed  with  my  friends 
in  town,  generally  with  Carl  Fleischer,  an  Hanoverian  occupy- 
ing one  of  the  best  houses  in  the  place,  called  the  Maetherei, 
from  the  proprietor's  name,  Maether.  He  was  a  most  amiable 
young  man,  of  a  quiet  nature,  but  firm  mind.  He  was  most 
unselfish  and  generous,  but  rather  exclusive,  consorting  only 
with  a  few  friends.  He  was  full  of  patriotism,  and  a  highly 
respected  member  of  the  Burschenschaft,  to  which  he  had 
belonged  in  Goettingen.  When  we  parted  in  the  fall  of  1830, 
(I  went  to  Munich,)  it  was  with  great  respect  on  both  sides. 
When,  after  the  emeute  at  Frankfort,  on  the  third  of  April, 
1833,  the  Bundestag  began  its  furious  persecution  against  all 
who  were  supposed  to  be  connected  directly  or  indirectly  with 


110 

the  rising,  and  particularly  against  the  members  of  the  Ger- 
mania  Society,  whether  involved  or  not,  Fleicher  did  not  deem 
it  prudent  to  stay  in  Germany,  but  with  another  member  of 
the  Burschenschaft,  Gaertner  of  Brunswick,  fled  to  Belgium. 
At  that  time  there  was  being  raised  in  England  a  foreign 
legion  to  assist  in  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  Infanta  Maria 
of  Portugal  against  the  usurper,  Dom  Miguel,  —  under  the 
auspices,  I  believe,  of  Sir  DeLacey  Evans,  who  later  was  the 
commander  of  the  foreign  legion  in  Spain  that  supported 
Isabella  II  against  the  pretender,  Don  Carlos,  and  who  after- 
ward became  a  very  distinguished  general  in  the  English 
army.  Gaertner,  of  whom  I  shall  have  a  good  deal  to  say 
hereafter,  when  I  come  to  my  residence  in  Madrid  as  United 
States  Minister,  enlisted  with  Fleischer  in  this  legion,  and  went 
to  Portugal,  where  Fleischer  fell  in  battle  at  the  siege  of 
Oporto.  I  heard  of  his  death,  however,  only  many  years  after, 
when  I  had  been  in  the  United  States  some  time. 

Goeden  became  somewhat  dissatisfied  with  me  for  not 
sufficiently  appreciating  the  beauties  of  the  Garden  House,  and 
was  also  perhaps  a  little  jealous  of  my  intimacy  with  Fleischer. 
Anyway,  in  the  fall  we  had  to  leave  the  island,  and  I  took 
rooms  in  the  Maetherei,  with  a  fine  view  of  the  promenade 
below  my  windows  and  of  the  hills  north  of  Jena.  Goeden 
and  I  remained  very  good  friends,  nevertheless.  He  after- 
wards went  to  Goettingen,  and  we  carried  on  a  correspondence 
until  I  left  Jena.  I  lost  sight  of  him  afterwards,  until  some 
time  in  1861  a  son  of  his  came  to  St.  Louis,  called  upon  me, 
told  me  that  he  had  come  to  learn  farming,  and  that  his  father 
intended  after  awhile  to  buy  him  a  farm.  He  volunteered  in 
a  Missouri  regiment,  however,  and  I  saw  him  after  the  war; 
but  what  since  became  of  him  I  know  not.  His  father  had  left 
Mecklenburg,  become  a  distinguished  physician  in  Stettin, 
where  he  died  in  May,  1888,  as  Herr  Medicinal  Rath. 

In  July,  not  very  long  after  my  return  from  my  southern 
tour,  I  received  the  melancholy  news  of  my  father's  death. 
He  had  been  sick  nearly  all  winter  with  a  heart  or  lung  com- 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  111 

plaint.     He  died  comparatively  young,  being  fifty-six  years 
of  age.     But  no  one  dies  too  soon  or  too  late. 

PROTESTANT    TRICENTENNIAL 

Nothing  very  remarkable  happened  during  the  summer 
of  1829,  except  the  celebration  of  the  tri-centenary  of  the 
action  of  the  reformed  princes  and  free  cities  at  the  Diet  of 
Speyer,  in  protesting  against  the  demands  of  the  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  Diet  to  stop  the  work  of  the  Reformation. 
It  was  from  this  protest,  that  all  the  different  religious  socie- 
ties which  seceded  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  received 
the  name  of  ' '  Protestants. ' ' 

This  anniversary  was  celebrated  by  the  Bursehenschaft 
after  the  usual  manner  of  such  student-celebrations.  The 
members  of  the  board  of  directors  (Vorstand),  and  of  the 
court  of  honor,  were  clad  in  black,  with  black-red-gold  scarfs 
across  their  breasts,  black  velvet  barettas  with  ostrich  feathers, 
and  white  gauntlets  and  swords  at  their  sides.  The  other 
members,  both  of  the  inner  and  outer  circle,  wore  pretty  much 
the  same  dress,  without  barettas  and  scarfs.  A  procession 
was  formed,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  strong,  all  bearing 
lighted  pitch-torches,  and  a  march  was  made  through  the  prin- 
cipal streets  to  the  spacious  market-place.  The  city-band 
played  on  the  balcony  of  the  council-house.  Frederick  Meyer 
of  Mecklenburg,  who  was  then  president  of  the  directory 
(speaker),  a  giant  in  stature,  made  a  short  and  impressive 
speech,  to  the  effect,  that,  though  now  we  had  full  religious 
liberty  and  need  not  renew  the  protest  of  our  great  ancestors 
at  Speyer,  yet  tonight  and  always  we  should  loudly  protest 
against  any  and  all  encroachments  on  our  civil  liberty  and 
against  all  acts  of  absolutism  and  despotism  whatsoever. 
Three  tremendous  cheers  were  given  to  the  old  and  new  Pro- 
testants. The  torches  were  all  thrown  in  a  heap,  making  a 
great  blaze.  I  think  we  wound  up  the  open  air  celebration 
with  the  old  Latin  student  song :  ' '  Gaudeamus  igitur. ' ' 


112 

The  citizens  being  nearly  all  strong  Lutherans,  turned 
out  en  masse,  and  cheered  us  on  our  march.  Most  of  the  pro- 
fessors also  were  delighted  that  we  had  thus  spontaneously 
and  without  asking  the  authorities  taken  up  this  celebration. 
Officially  nothing  had  been  done  towards  it,  —  except  that  the 
music  was  furnished  by  the  city. 

At  the  end  of  the  semester  I  had  determined  to  visit  my 
family  at  Frankfort.  Carl  Grave  and  Carl  Tamsen,  both  of 
Holstein,  desired  to  join  me.  Grave,  whom  I  afterwards  met 
repeatedly  in  the  United  States,  was  a  very  diminutive,  hand- 
some youth,  of  a  most  mercurial  character,  but  amiable  and 
sprightly,  and  so  full  of  ideas  that  he  could  not  speak  fast 
enough  to  let  them  out,  with  the  result  that  he  often  got  a 
little  confused.  Yet  he  had  excellent  common  sense,  had  had 
a  fine  education,  and  possessed  a  delicate  sense  of  honor:  he 
was  a  medical  student.  Tamsen  was  the  very  opposite  of 
Grave.  He  was  from  the  northern  part  of  Holstein  (Flens- 
burg),  quiet,  scant  of  speech,  yet  fond  of  society,  and  not 
without  some  humor.  A  thimbleful  of  wine  would  make 
Grave  almost  intoxicated;  while  half  a  dozen  glasses  of  stiff 
grog  would  have  no  perceptible  effect  on  Tamsen.  On  the 
whole,  I  could  not  have  had  better  company. 

TRIP  THROUGH  THE  HARTZ  MOUNTAINS 

Our  route  to  Frankfort  was  a  rather  circuitous  one.  From 
"Weimar  we  turned  off  the  main  road  to  Frankfort  to  Koel- 
leda,  a  sorrowful  place,  to  which  old  father  Jahn,  the  organizer 
of  the  Turnvereins,  the  old  Luetzower  of  1813,  had  been  ban- 
ished by  the  Prussian  government,  for  having  severely  de- 
nounced the  reactionary  policy  of  Prussia  after  the  war  of 
liberation.  We  had  intended  to  visit  him,  not  that  we  admired 
the  man  so  much,  for  at  that  time  he  had  become  quite  royal 
and  loyal ;  but  he  was,  nevertheless,  a  sort  of  martyr,  and  the 
Jena  students  made  many  a  pilgrimage  to  Koelleda  to  visit 
him.  He  was  afterwards  elected  to  the  German  Parliament 
in  1848  on  account  of  his  early  persecutions,  but  turned  out  a 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  113 

thorough  Conservative  and  played  a  sorry  part  in  that  assem- 
bly. He  had  gone  to  a  neighboring  village,  so  that  we  missed 
him.  As  a  child  I  had  seen  him  in  Frankfort,  for  he  had 
visited  father  repeatedly.  From  Koelleda,  by  Frankenhau- 
sen,  we  traversed  some  of  the  most  fertile  regions  of  north- 
ern Germany,  called  the  Goldene  Aue,  bounded  on  the  north 
by  hills,  on  one  of  which  stands  the  celebrated  Kyffhaeuser. 
We  went  up  to  the  ruins  of  the  old  castle,  of  which  we  had 
heard  and  read  so  much,  and  it  was  quite  dark  before  we 
reached  our  night's  quarters. 

Next  day  we  went  by  the  charming  water-place,  Alexis- 
Bad,  in  the  valley  of  the  Selke.  It  is  surrounded  by  noble 
forests  of  beech  and  oak.  We  spent  one  night  at  Thale  in 
the  valley  of  the  Bode,  from  which  next  morning  we  ascended 
the  highly  interesting  Ross-Trappe,  looking  down  into  the 
dark  abyss  formed  by  the  Bode.  The  guide  told  us  of  a 
young  girl  who,  not  long  before,  on  account  of  unrequited 
love,  had  made  the  fatal  leap  from  the  rock  into  the  stream. 
I  made  a  novelette  of  this  not  long  afterwards.  Finding  the 
manuscript  amongst  my  papers,  I  had  it  published  in  the 
"Illinois  Beobachter"  for  May  16  and  23,  1844,  under  the  title 
"Aus  der  Harzreise  im  Herbst." 

By  Blankenburg,  with  its  historical  chateau,  Elbingerode- 
Schierke,  we  ascended  in  a  heavy  rain  and  wind  storm  late  in 
the  evening  the  Brocken,  visiting  on  the  way  the  stalactite 
Baumann's  cave.  The  hospice  on  the  Brocken  was  a  massive 
stone  house  of  one  story,  with  walls  several  feet  thick  and  the 
roof  secured  by  huge  stones  put  upon  it.  We  found  a  large 
company  there,  students  from  Berlin  and  from  G-oettingen, 
and  many  Philistines.  The  large  guest-room  was  kept  pretty 
hot,  and  a  good  deal  of  grog  was  consumed.  The  dormitories, 
however,  were  very  cold.  The  Brocken  is  but  three  thousand, 
five  hundred  feet  high,  but  in  that  latitude  the  temperature 
at  such  an  elevation  is  very  severe.  The  morning  was  cloudy, 
and  for  some  time  we  could  see  but  a  few  yards  ahead.  But 
after  a  while  the  sun  came  out  for  a  short  time,  and  we  had 


114  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

quite  an  extensive  view.  One  goes  there  to  be  able  to  say  that 
he  has  been  on  the  mystic  Brocken.  But  otherwise  there  is 
no  great  reward  for  the  trouble  of  ascending  it.  For  geolo- 
gists and  scientists  generally  the  Hartz  Mountains  are  of  very 
great  interest.  We  visited  the  gold  mines  at  Klausthal  and 
Noerden,  and  reached  Goettingen.  Few  students  were  pres- 
ent, though  enough  to  make  our  sojourn  there  quite  pleasant. 
Through  the  most  delightfully  situated  town  of  Miinden 
(where  the  Werra  and  Fulda  join,  forming  the  Weser)  we 
reached  Cassel,  saw  all  its  marvels,  including  the  Wilhelms- 
hoehe,  went  to  Marburg  and  Giessen,  where  we  had  a  high 
time  again  with  our  brother  students,  and  thence  to  Frankfort, 
where  we  arrived  late  at  night,  and  where  I  was  received  with 
great  joy  by  my  mother,  sisters,  and  brother  Carl.  Tamsen 
and  Grave  stayed  a  few  days  at  Frankfort,  where,  of  course. 
I  made  them  quite  at  home.  They  then  returned  to  Jena, 
while  I  remained  some  weeks  with  my  family. 

JENA  AGAIN.      VISIT  TO   LEIPSIC 

Towards  the  end  of  October,  I  left  again  for  Jena.  By 
Aschaffenburg,  Wuerzburg,  Schweinfurt,  Koenigshofen,  Roem- 
hild,  Schleusingen,  Ilmenau,  Stadt  Ilm,  and  Weimar,  I  ar- 
rived late  in  the  night  at  Jena.  I  went  by  coach  as  far  as 
Wuerzburg,  but  the  rest  of  the  road,  leading  through  part  of 
the  Thuringian  Mountains,  some  ninety  miles,  I  footed  with 
a  very  heavy  knapsack  on  my  shoulders. 

In  the  winter  of  1829  and  1830  I  heard  lectures  on  crim- 
inal law  and  German  civil  law,  by  the  distinguished  Professor 
Martin,  and  on  medical  jurisprudence  by  Professor  Henke. 
If  I  recollect  right,  I  was  tolerably  studious  that  winter.  We 
had  a  Shakespeare  Club  and  other  literary  gatherings,  with 
tea  and  claret,  or  rum,  which  we  called  Attic  nights.  Dur- 
ing the  Christmas  vacation,  some  of  us  paid  another  visit  to 
Leipsic,  and  I,  like  my  great  townsman  Goethe,  who  had  in 
Leipsic  a  passionate  love  affair  with  the  daughter  of  the  house 
where  he  boarded,  fell  in  love  with  a  very  pretty  girl,  the 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  115 

daughter  of  a  widow  who  kept  a  small  restaurant  called  the 
Little  Blumenberg,  as  well  as  I  remember.  The  student  whose 
hospitality  I  enjoyed  and  several  other  members  of  the  Bur- 
sehenschaft  took  their  dinners  and  suppers  there,  and  I  thus 
became  acquainted  with  Friederieka,  a  tall,  well-proportioned 
girl  with  large  lustrous  black  eyes  and  luxuriant  blue-black 
hair,  which  hung  from  down  her  neck  in  ringlets.  She  did  not 
wait  on  the  table  but  kept  the  books  in  a  small  room  adjoining 
the  restaurant,  and  as  this  bookkeeping  took  very  little  time 
she  sewed  and  embroidered.  I  courted  her  assiduously,  and 
before  I  left,  promised  to  come  back  as  soon  as  possible.  She 
did  not  encourage  me  much,  and  did  not  seem  to  be  distressed 
when  I  bid  her  adieu. 

On  my  return  to  Jena  I  passed  a  day  of  which  I  have 
the  most  lively  remembrance,  and  which  I  have  recollected, 
I  believe,  every  time  I  have  since  suffered  from  cold  weather. 
That  winter  was  one  of  the  severest  ever  experienced  in  Ger- 
many. I  had  taken  the  stage  at  Leipsic  for  Jena.  It  started 
early  in  the  morning,  about  six  o'clock.  The  snow  was  at 
least  a  foot  thick  on  the  ground,  and  it  had  frozen  hard.  I 
was  alone  in  the  coach,  and  it  was  well  closed,  so  that  at  first 
I  did  not  suffer  much  from  the  cold,  save  in  my  feet.  I  had 
no  cloak,  but  had  my  dressing  gown  with  me,  which  I  put  on 
over  my  coat.  It  happened  to  be  the  coldest  day  of  the  season, 
twenty-four  degrees  below  zero,  Reamur,  and  the  wind  blew 
sharp  from  the  north,  which  made  it  worse.  Arrived  at 
Luetzen,  the  first  station  out  from  Leipsic,  the  coach  was 
taken  in,  and  a  high  sleigh  brought  out,  the  postmaster  declar- 
ing that  the  snow  was  too  deep  for  the  big  coach  and  that 
there  had  been  already  a  half  hour's  delay  from  Leipsic.  I 
protested,  but  in  vain.  It  was  a  large  open  box  on  runners; 
the  mail  was  thrown  in,  and  a  bunch  of  hay  to  keep  my  feet 
warm.  The  driver  sat  in  front  of  me  on  the  mail-bag.  There 
is  a  vast  plain  between  Luetzen  and  Weissenf  els  on  the  Saale, 
and  the  wind  almost  took  the  breath  out  of  me.  I  suffered 
very  much  and  soon  felt  sleepy.  I  told  the  postillion  to  rouse 


116  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNEE 

me  from  time  to  time,  and  not  let  me  go  to  sleep.  We  went, 
however,  like  lightning.  At  the  next  station,  Weissenfels,  the 
sleigh  was  again  exchanged  for  a  comfortable  coach,  well  filled 
with  straw.  While  conveyance  and  horses  were  being  changed, 
I  entered  the  well-warmed  guest-room ;  but  only  for  a  moment, 
for  I  was  at  once  taken  with  horrible  pains.  I  had  been 
entirely  benumbed,  and  the  heat  of  the  room  made  me  feel  as 
though  my  whole  body  was  on  fire.  I  ran  out  into  the  yard. 
The  landlady  came  after  me  with  a  basin  of  icy  water.  ' '  Put 
your  hands  in  this,  quick,"  she  said,  "and  then  wash  your 
face."  It  proved  at  once  a  great  relief,  and  after  dipping 
my  hands  repeatedly  in  the  snow  on  the  ground  and  washing 
my  face  with  the  same,  I  felt  quite  comfortable  again,  and 
could  stay  some  time  in  the  warm  room. 

Unfortunately  at  Naumburg  the  coach  was  taken  off,  and 
I  had  to  ride  in  a  sleigh  again  for  the  last  two  stations  to 
Jena.  But  the  sleigh  was  full  of  straw,  so  that  I  could  cover 
myself  up  with  it.  The  postmaster  gave  me  two  blankets,  but, 
best  of  all,  we  made  a  sharp  turn  at  Naumburg,  going  straight 
south  to  Jena,  so  that  I  now  had  the  wind  on  my  back.  Take 
it  all  in  all,  it  was  a  horrible  day. 

As  to  Priedericka,  —  I  may  as  well  give  the  close  of  that 
episode,  —  I  did  go  back  the  next  spring.  I  called  upon  her, 
and  when  I  went  away,  she  bade  me  adieu  in  a  manner  that 
seemed  to  say:  "Come  again."  But  there  was  no  passion 
on  either  side.  A  kiss  or  two  were  rather  taken  than  given. 
The  secret  of  my  failure  I  soon  found  out.  A  fine-looking, 
good-natured  fellow,  one  of  our  own  society,  by  the  name  of 
Roland,  had  been  captured  by  her.  He  was  the  son  of  a  rich 
Saxon  land-owner,  and  he  married  her  in  less  than  a  year 
after  I  saw  her  last.  Amongst  my  papers  is  a  sonnet  devoted 
to  her  under  the  title  ' '  Friedericka. " 

BERLIN  AND  NORTHERN  GERMANY 

For  the  Easter  vacation  I  had  planned  an  extensive  tour. 
Ludwig  Beetz,  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  who,  like  myself, 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  117 

was  a  law  student,  and  with  whom  I  had  become  very  well 
acquainted,  invited  me  urgently  to  accompany  him  to  his 
home  in  Ludwigslust,  where  his  father  was  a  distinguished 
Lutheran  minister.  Beetz  was  a  very  intelligent  young  man, 
with  a  first-rate  education;  a  pleasant  associate,  though  per- 
haps a  little  too  much  inclined  to  sarcasm.  If  my  memory 
does  not  deceive  me,  he  obtained  a  very  high  position  in  his 
profession  after  the  year  1848.  I  finally  accepted  his  invita- 
tion, but,  once  in  northern  Germany,  I  enlarged  my  plans 
considerably. 

We  left  the  University  in  the  middle  of  April,  went  on 
foot  by  Zeitz  and  Pegau  to  Leipsic,  where  I  met  Friedericka. 
To  go  to  Berlin  from  Leipsic  on  foot  was  out  of  the  question, 
as  most  of  the  road  is  highly  uninteresting,  —  indeed,  for 
many  miles  sandy  and  marshy.  We  took  a  coach,  crossed 
the  Elbe  at  Wittenberg,  and  stayed  half  a  day  in  this  historical 
place,  which  no  one  can  visit  without  feeling  that  he  is  on 
memorable,  nay,  almost  sacred,  ground.  It  was  well  to  have 
erected  a  fine  statue  of  Luther  in  the  market  place,  though 
monument  he  needed  none.  We  visited  his  and  Melancthon's 
tombs  in  the  Schlosskirche,  on  the  door  of  which  the  bold  monk 
had  nailed  his  theses  against  the  papal  indulgences,  and  were 
shown  the  place  outside  the  town  where  Luther  burned  the 
papal  bull,  condemning  his  doctrines  and  excommunicating 
him. 

Through  a  poor  and  sandy  country,  we  reached,  towards 
evening,  Potsdam,  —  a  perfect  oasis  in  the  desert,  between 
lakes  of  the  Havel,  and  most  beautifully  situated.  We  saw  all 
that  was  remarkable  there  in  the  morning,  and  reached  Berlin 
the  next  evening.  Berlin,  of  course,  was  not  in  1830  the  place 
it  is  now;  it  contained  then  about  250,000  inhabitants;  yet 
it  was  a  highly  interesting  place  in  every  respect.  To  give  a 
description  of  all  I  saw  during  th.ree  or  four  days  in  Berlin, 
would  be  useless,  and  I  will  confine  myself  to  giving  a  few 
notes  of  places  I  saw,  which  are  amongst  my  papers : 


118  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Armory,  opposite  Bluecher's  bronze  statue;  New  Guard 
House,  flanked  by  the  two  marble  statues  of  Buelow  and 
Scharnhorst ;  the  Royal  Palace ;  New  Bridge  across  the  Spree ; 
New  Museum,  opposite  Schloss ;  Unter  den  Linden ;  Charlotten- 
burg,  with  the  tomb  of  Queen  Louise;  Rauch's  Atelier 
(Sleeping  Child,  Scharnhorst 's  Sarcophagus)  ;  King's  Bridge, 
with  Schlueter's  beautiful  colossal  statue  of  the  Great  Elector ; 
Kreuzberg,  with  the  monument  for  those  who  fell  in  the  wars 
of  liberation;  House  of  the  Invalids  (Invalido  et  invicto 
militi) ;  in  the  Old  Museum,  Halls  of  Antiquity,  Picture  Gal- 
lery; Wilhelm's  Platz,  with  the  statues  of  the  heroes  of  the 
Seven  Years'  War;  Library;  University;  the  new  antique 
Werder  Church ;  Engineers '  School ;  the  New  Palace  under  the 
Lindens;  Catholic  Dom. 

We  found  in  Berlin  some  of  our  friends  who  had  been 
with  us  at  Jena;  also  other  students,  with  whom  we  had 
become  acquainted  before  in  Halle  and  Leipsic.  They  treated 
us  most  cordially.  They  were  all  members  of  our  society, 
and  while  they  had  to  be  very  cautious  in  Berlin,  and  could 
not  show  their  badges  openly,  still  they  had  their  club-house 
and  lived  under  the  constitution  and  rules  of  the  Universal 
Burschenschaft.  We  spent  our  time  most  pleasantly.  In  the 
Royal  Theatre  we  saw  Richard  III.  The  actor  representing 
the  King  was  a  hunchback  star  from  some  other  theatre,  whose 
name  I  have  forgotten.  If  any  of  Shakespeare's  creations 
require  to  be  toned  down  in  their  representation,  it  is  Richard 
III ;  but  instead  of  that  the  actor,  imitating  English  perform- 
ers, exaggerated  the  character,  already  overdrawn.  I  was 
much  disappointed,  and  the  Berlin  public  seemed  to  be  as  little 
pleased  as  I  was.  The  house  was  only  half  filled.  The  theatre 
itself  presented  a  majestic  appearance,  and  as  far  as  machin- 
ery, costumes,  and  scenery  went,  the  performance  was  perfect. 
In  the  Koenigstadt  Theatre  we  saw  "Preciosa"  very  finely 
played.  But  we  were  very  fortunate  in  hearing  Don  Juan  at 
the  Opera  House.  Henrietta  Sontag  was  starring  at  Berlin. 
She  sang  Dona  Anne,  and  was  supported  by  Mme.  Seidel  as 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  119 

Elvira,  and  the  lovely  Miss  Schaetzel  as  Zerlina.  The  cele- 
brated Blume  acted  Don  Juan.  I  have  since  heard  grand 
operas  at  Madrid,  Paris,  Dresden,  New  York,  and  other  large 
cities  in  Europe  and  the  United  States,  but  never  witnessed 
such  an  "ensemble"  of  excellent  singers  and  rich  scenery,  or 
heard  such  an  exquisite  orchestra,  as  in  Berlin. 

We  could  not  afford  to  buy  tickets  for  a  box  or  reserved 
seats,  but  had  to  be  content  with  the  parquet;  and,  being 
advised  to  that  effect  by  our  friends,  we  went  to  the  door  of 
the  opera  house  about  four  o'clock  to  join  the  crowd  for  the 
parquet  and  higher  galleries.  There  we  stood  in  the  sun, 
pressed  like  herrings,  until  six  o'clock,  when  the  door  was 
opened.  We  got  in,  or  rather  were  carried  in  by  the  rushing 
crowd,  and  procured  tolerably  good  seats.  But  we  were 
amply  recompensed  for  our  two  hours'  torture. 

I  had  seen  Sontag  before  in  Frankfort,  in  1829,  in  Ros- 
sini's "Barber  of  Seville."  She  was  then  but  18  or  19  years  of 
age.  Her  beauty  was  indescribable.  She  set  all  Germany  in 
a  blaze.  Her  voice  was  equal  to  Adelina  Patti's;  her  grace 
and  beauty,  unequaled  by  any  artist  then  living;  and  her 
acting,  particularly  in  light  operas,  far  superior  to  Patti's. 
Boerne,  in  his  miscellaneous  writings,  has  given  a  most 
humorous  and  spirited  account  of  her  acting  and  her  recep- 
tion at  Frankfort.  With  many  others,  he  also  twitted  me, 
for  I  had  been  guilty  of  showing  my  admiration  of  the  godlike 
Henrietta  in  two  stanzas,  in  form  of  a  four-syllable  riddle, 
' '  Palmen-Sontag, "  which  is  amongst  my  collection  of  verses. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  I  visited  the  Royal  Picture 
Gallery  more  than  once.  As  I  came  to  Berlin  again  in  1863, 
under  very  favorable  circumstances,  1  may  speak  of  it  again. 

MECKLENBURG.      LUEBECK.      KIEL 

Leaving  Berlin  on  the  30th  of  April  in  a  miserable  Prus- 
sian stage,  through  endless  sand  heaths,  we  reached  the  cele- 
brated battle-field  of  Fehrbellin;  although  after  passing  the 
Mecklenburg  frontier  at  Grabow  the  country  became  more 


120  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

interesting,  —  fertile  soil,  here  and  there  a  lake,  and  some 
timber.  With  the  parents  of  Beetz,  at  Ludwigslust,  we  passed 
several  very  pleasant  days,  made  an  excursion  to  Woebbelin, 
near  which  village  is  the  tomb  of  Theodore  Koerner,  under 
an  oak,  where  he  fell  on  the  26th  of  August,  1813.  A  simple 
stone  with  his  name  and  date  of  his  death  marked  the  place 
at  that  time.  His  sister  Emma,  whose  heart  was  broken  by 
his  death  and  who  soon  followed  him,  is  also  buried  there. 
A  keeper  took  care  of  the  spot;  but  it  seemed  to  have  been 
rather  neglected.  I  believe  there  is  now  a  fine  monument 
erected  to  him  there. 

With  Beetz  I  went  to  Schwerin,  the  capital  of  Mecklen- 
burg-Schwerin,  and  visited  his  brother-in-law,  a  counselor  at 
law,  who  lived  very  elegantly  with  his  pretty  wife.  We  were 
royally  entertained  here.  The  picture-gallery,  in  the  chateau, 
built  on  an  island  in  a  beautiful  lake,  has  some  excellent  pic- 
tures, principally  of  the  Dutch  school.  There  is  a  Van  Dyke, 
two  Rembrandts,  a  Floris,  Teniers,  Holbein,  and  a  Dow.  Here 
I  parted  from  my  excellent  friend  Beetz,  and  traveled  on 
foot  through  a  rich  and  beautiful  country,  clean  towns  and 
villages,  the  people  of  which  looked  not  only  well-to-do,  but 
the  men  stout  and  handsome,  and  the  women  on  an  average 
really  beautiful.  One  thing  I  missed  very  much.  The  beer 
in  all  northern  Germany  was  at  that  time  execrable.  Either  it 
was  miserably  thin  or  so  thick  and  strong  that  no  southern 
German  could  relish  it.  In  the  smaller  towns  no  wine  could 
be  had.  But  the  splendid  milk  of  the  superior  cows  of  Meck- 
lenburg and  Holstein  is  very  refreshing  to  the  wanderer. 

In  two  days  I  had  reached  Luebeck,  where  I  was  received 
by  a  very  good  friend,  Bang,  who  had  left  Jena  in  the  fall  of 
1829.  The  name  by  which  he  was  almost  exclusively  known 
was  "Hiob,"  or  Job.  He  was  a  well-informed,  highly  intel- 
lectual man,  "un  homme  d 'esprit,"  and  besides,  one  of  the 
most  social  of  fellows.  Stout  and  tall,  a  first  rate  swords- 
man, popular  without  courting  popularity,  he  had  great  in- 
fluence in  our  society,  and  was  nearly  always  a  member  of 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  121 

the  directory  or  the  court  of  honor.  The  only  wonder  was 
that  he  took  up  theology  as  a  profession.  His  clerical  descent 
may  account  for  that.  He  certainly  did  not  relish  it.  I  af- 
terwards lost  track  of  him,  but  I  dare  say  that  he  never  was 
a  success  as  a  pastor. 

Bang  was  an  excellent ' '  cicerone, ' '  and  Luebeck  is  worthy 
of  the  tourist's  attention.  It  is  a  real  old  German  town,  dif- 
ferent from  Nuremberg,  and  yet  leaving  almost  the  same  im- 
pression on  the  mind.  Its  quondam  prosperity  and  mag- 
nificence, as  the  head  of  the  once  so  powerful  Hanseatic 
League,  are  gone.  Its  remarkable  Gothic  churches,  its  town- 
hall,  built  entirely  of  brick,  as  nearly  all  the  buildings  in  the 
north  of  Germany  are,  take  days  to  explore.  One  day  we  went 
to  the  great  harbor  of  Luebeck,  ten  miles  off,  to  Travemiinde, 
a  very  pretty  place,  and  there  I  had  the  first  view  of  the  sea. 
"Thallatta,  Thallatta,"  I  exclaimed,  as  almost  every  school 
boy  does  at  the  first  view  of  the  ocean.  We  ordered  a  fish 
dinner  to  be  ready  within  an  hour,  and  saw  the  fishermen 
start  out  to  catch  that  excellent  fish,  the  dorsch.  In  the 
meantime,  we  went  a  little  beyond  the  town,  and  took  a  swim 
on  the  sandy  beach.  The  fish,  served  with  choice  Holland 
potatoes  a  la  mattre  d'hotel,  was  a  kingly  feast,  and  we  made 
the  fish  swim  in  some  extra  fine  white  port.  All  French  and 
Spanish  wines,  as  port,  sherry,  and  Bordeaux,  are  compar- 
atively cheap  in  these  northern  sea-ports,  since  there  is  no 
duty  to  be  paid  and  the  freight  is  little. 

One  Sunday  evening  I  was  invited  by  a  rich  merchant, 
a  relative  of  my  friend,  to  dinner.  The  house  was  one  of 
those  immense  buildings  with  gable  ends  toward  the  street 
with  which  Luebeck  abounds,  and  of  quaint  architecture.  On 
entering  you  came  into  a  large  hall  of  great  height  and  of 
the  width  of  the  whole  house.  Only  to  the  right  of  the  en- 
trance were  there  some  small  rooms  used  for  offices.  A  large 
stairway  led  to  the  second  story.  The  hall  there  was  still 
very  ample,  but  on  each  side  there  were  suites  of  rooms,  par- 
lors as  we  would  call  them,  and  also  a  large  dining  room. 


122  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

The  third  story  contained  the  sitting  and  bedrooms.  It  was 
a  family  reunion.  The  head  of  the  family  and  his  still  hand- 
some wife,  a  son  or  two,  and  two  daughters,  some  four  or  five 
related  families,  clerks  of  the  house,  Bang  and  myself,  mak- 
ing in  all  some  forty  people,  sat  down  to  a  most  sumptuous 
dinner.  The  fish,  lobsters,  oysters,  shrimps,  etc.,  attracted  my 
particular  attention,  as  being  novelties  to  me.  There  were 
also,  of  course,  excellent  beef  and  fowls,  and  the  dessert  was 
particularly  rich  in  oranges,  bananas,  and  other  exotic  fruits, 
which  at  that  time  were  very  scarce  in  south  Germany.  The 
wines  were  of  the  choicest.  After  dinner  we  first  had  good 
piano-playing  and  singing  by  some  of  the  girls,  most  all  of 
whom  were  very  handsome,  —  all  blondes  with  exquisite  com- 
plexions, blue  eyes,  and  plump,  healthy  figures.  We  then 
played  social  games,  particularly  charades,  our  hostess  fur- 
nishing very  handsome  toilettes  for  the  ladies.  Then  came 
dancing,  and,  as  usual,  I  fell  in  love  with  one  of  the  girls,  a 
maiden  of  about  sixteen  or  seventeen,  sweet  but  not  insipid. 
I  had  her  as  a  partner  more  than  once,  and  I  undoubtedly 
made  a  fool  of  myself,  though  she  did  not  seem  to  perceive  it. 
About  midnight  the  party  broke  up.  She  was  with  her 
father  and  mother  and  needed  no  escort  home,  but  I  rather 
audaciously  insisted  on  accompanying  her.  The  father,  a 
pastor,  remonstrated,  saying  that  they  lived  out  of  town  some 
distance  from  our  host's  home.  But  all  in  vain  —  so  much 
the  better,  thought  I.  It  was  a  beautiful  moonlight  night. 
The  parents  led  the  way,  I  offered  my  arm  to  Emma.  I  told 
her  of  my  happiness,  and  said  other  pretty  things  to  her, 
which  would  appear  very  ludicrous  if  put  in  writing.  We 
reached  the  Holstein  Gate,  which  was  already  closed,  but  was 
opened  for  the  pastor,  of  course,  who  told  the  watchman  to 
let  me  in  again  when  I  went  back  to  town.  We  walked  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  on  the  main  road,  which  led  to  a  suburb, 
of  which  Emma's  father  was  the  pastor,  then  turned  off  to 
take  a  nearer  cut  to  the  pastor's  house,  when  to  my  surprise 
we  walked  through  a  churchyard,  on  the  other  side  of  which 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  123 

was  the  St.  Lawrence  church  and  the  pastor's  dwelling.  The 
moonlight  stole  over  the  white  stone  monuments  and  the 
crosses.  I  had  never  seen  a  churchyard  in  the  moonlight  ex- 
cept in  the  opera  of  Don  Juan.  That  was  a  pasteboard  one, 
this  a  real  one.  Emma  did  not  seem  to  be  at  all  afraid,  for 
she  did  not  draw  closer  to  me.  I  wished  she  had  been.  We 
reached  the  parsonage.  To  my  surprise  the  old  folks  unlocked 
the  door  and  went  into  the  hall,  which  was  quite  dark.  I 
thought  it  was  time  for  me  to  leave.  "O,  Emma,"  I  said, 
''how  sorry  I  am  I  must  leave  in  the  morning;  I  shall  never 
see  you  again."  She  replied  I  might  see  her  on  my  return 
from  Holstein.  "Oh,  no,  that  cannot  be.  Farewell,  my  dear;" 
and  with  that  I  put  my  arm  around  her  waist  and  gave  her 
a  hearty  kiss.  "My  God,"  she  exclaimed,  but  she  could  say 
no  more.  The  old  gentleman,  holding  a  candle  in  his  hand, 
appeared  in  the  hall.  "Good-bye,  my  dear  Herr  Pastor,"  I 
said,  and  tried  to  make  my  escape.  "Oh,  no,"  said  he;  "do 
you  think  I  would  let  you  go  out  in  the  cold  night  air  without 
having  you  take  a  glass  of  wine  with  us?  My  wife  is  just 
going  down  to  the  cellar  to  get  some  good  Khine  wine."  Of 
course,  I  had  to  join  them.  The  lady  had  already  set  wine, 
glasses,  and  cake  on  the  table,  and  we  sat  down  for  a  few  min- 
utes, and  drank  to  our  parting.  Emma,  however,  did  not 
come  in.  "I  am  so  tired,"  she  said  to  her  mother,  "I  must 
retire.  Good  night,  and  a  happy  journey  to  you,  Mr.  Koer- 
ner. ' '  She  was  a  little  embarrassed ;  but  for  a  girl  of  sixteen 
she  acted  very  bravely.  In  a  sort  of  intoxication  I  ran 
through  the  churchyard,  thought  of  Don  Juan,  got  to  the 
gate,  and  had  to  hail  the  watchman  three  or  four  times  before 
he  came  out.  I  chided  him.  But  said  he,  "I  thought  you 
would  come  back  at  once,  and,  as  you  did  not,  I  guessed  you 
had  stayed  with  the  Herr  Pastor." 

I  walked  home  of  course,  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  I 
reached  home  on  wings  rather  than  on  my  legs.  In  my  note- 
book, after  mentioning  this  romantic  episode,  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing quotation  from  Don  Carlos:  "Koenigin  —  O,  Gott  — 


124  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Das  Leben  1st  doch  schoen,"  and  three  exclamation  marks. 
Amongst  my  papers  there  is  a  description  of  this  party  at 
Luebeck,  superscribed  "An  Evening  at  Luebeck,"  which  dif- 
fers in  some  respects  from  what  I  have  just  written.  But 
upon  the  whole  there  is  no  essential  difference.  For  some 
reason  or  another  I  had  left  the  kiss  out. 

Next  morning  I  started  for  Eutin,  an  interesting  city, 
well  known  in  the  literary  history  of  Germany.  It  was  there 
that  John  Henry  Voss  lived  —  the  eminent  philologist,  and 
author  of  the  admirable  renderings  of  Homer  and  other  classic 
authors,  —  the  poet  of  ' '  Louise. ' '  Many  other  literary  celebri- 
ties at  one  time  or  another  resided  here.  It  was  also  the 
birth-place  of  Carl  Maria  von  Weber.  It  formed  then  a  part 
of  Oldenburg,  and  was  surrounded  by  the  Holstein  country. 
Here  lived  the  family  of  my  friend  Maximilan  Heinrich  Rue- 
der,  one  of  the  most  influential  members  of  our  Jena  Burschen- 
schaft.  He  was  a  real  Northman  in  appearance,  tall  and  ro- 
bust, with  light  red  hair  and  large  gray  eyes.  He  was  of  a 
serious  turn  of  mind,  rather  conservative,  but  a  warm  friend 
of  his  fatherland  and  of  its  liberty  and  unity.  He  was  a  man 
of  high  moral  principles  and  yet  not  unsocial.  An  excellent 
swordsman,  he  never  sought  a  quarrel,  and  no  one  liked  to 
quarrel  with  him.  He  did  not  spend  his  vacations  at  home, 
but  had  earnestly  begged  me  to  visit  his  parents,  and  had 
informed  them  of  my  coming.  I  was  most  kindly  received 
by  them.  Another  son  showed  me  the  admirable  scenery 
around  Eutin.  Such  forests  of  oak,  and  particularly  beech, 
I  had  never  seen  before.  They  were  of  gigantic  size.  Beau- 
tiful little  lakes  surrounded  the  place.  This  part  of  eastern 
Holstein  is  remarkably  fine.  Rueder's  brother  accompanied 
me  to  Ploen,  a  town  half  way  to  Kiel,  and  situated  on  a  large 
and  charming  lake.  With  my  friend  Rueder  I  continued  to 
correspond  while  at  the  University,  and  also  after  I  had  set- 
tled in  Frankfort.  Although  he  was  not  connected  with  the 
third  of  April  "Attentat"  at  Frankfort,  perhaps  not  even 
aware  of  it,  he  was  nevertheless  prosecuted  as  a  participant, 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  125 

arrested,  and  imprisoned  for  a  considerable  time.  He  after- 
wards became  a  distinguished  lawyer,  and  when  he  met  me 
in  Hamburg  in  1864,  he  was  Attorney  General  of  the  Grand 
Dukedom  of  Oldenburg.  We  renewed  our  correspondence, 
and  for  many  years  he  wrote  me  regularly  to  the  United 
States.  Of  late,  I  have  heard  nothing  of  him.  We  were  most 
intimate  friends. 

What  shall  I  say  of  Kiel,  with  its  harbor  big  enough  to 
shelter  all  the  navies  of  the  world  combined,  and  with  its 
majestic  forests,  bordering  the  east  side  of  the  bay?  I  rev- 
eled in  enjoyment.  I  found  there  my  friends  Tamsen  and 
Palm  from  Hamburg,  and  G.  I.  Hanssen,  old  Jena  students, 
and  many  other  fine  fellows.  We  spent  most  of  our  time  at 
the  romantic  Duesternbrook  in  the  bay,  favored  by  delightful 
weather. 

At  the  invitation  of  Hanssen,  I  spent  a  few  days  with  him 
at  Holtenau  on  the  Eider.  We  visited,  on  a  stormy  day,  the 
little  fortress  of  Friedrichsort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Eider 
canal,  and  had  beautiful  views  of  the  bay  and  the  shipping. 
Walking  along  the  rocks  and  stone  walls  bounding  the  sea 
at  the  end  of  the  canal,  we  could  hardly  keep  our  legs.  The 
wind  howled,  and  the  surge  struck  the  shore  violently,  so  that 
we  were  several  times  covered  with  foam.  Hanssen  was  a  su- 
perior man.  He  had  been  very  studious,  and  although  he  had 
studied  law,  his  favorite  pursuits  were  political  and  national 
economy  and  statistics.  A  few  years  after  I  left  him,  he  be- 
came a  lecturer  on  economy,  political  and  agricultural,  at 
Kiel;  in  1837  he  was  appointed  professor  at  the  same  place, 
and  was  successively  called  to  Goettingen,  Leipsic,  and  Berlin, 
where  he  was  appointed  chief  of  the  statistical  bureau.  But 
he  finally  returned  to  Goettingen,  as  professor  of  his  favorite 
sciences.  He  was  the  author  of  many  highly  prized  works. 
Since  1875  I  have  not  heard  of  him. 

I  saw  Kiel  later  in  all  its  splendor  and  loveliness ;  but  the 
happy  days  I  passed  there  and  in  Holstein  in  my  youth,  with 


126  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

their  fresh  impression  of  ocean  life,  have  always  remained 
vividly  in  my  memory  through  life. 

SCHLESWIG   AND  HAMBURG 

On  the  llth  of  May,  Tamsen  took  me  in  a  light  carriage 
with  two  beautiful  fast  Holstein  horses,  to  Neumiinster,  half 
way  to  Hamburg.  From  there  I  started  on  foot  towards  Ham- 
burg, lost  my  way  in  the  vast  Segeberg  heath,  and  reached, 
late  at  night,  a  small  village  somewhat  off  the  main  road.  The 
inn  was  like  all  farmhouses  in  Holstein,  —  large  barns,  in  the 
front  end  of  which,  on  each  side  of  a  wide  entrance,  are  a  few 
dwelling-rooms  for  the  family.  Close  to  these  are  the  stables, 
for  horses  on  one  side,  and  for  cattle  on  the  other.  Farther 
back  stand  the  wagons,  tools,  etc.  The  loft  is  filled  with  hay, 
straw,  and  at  the  proper  seasons  grain.  There  are  large  cel- 
lars underneath.  I  was  shown  by  the  landlord  into  one  of  the 
rooms  where  the  whole  family,  man,  wife,  grandmother,  two 
buxom  girls,  a  boy  or  two,  and  some  farm-hands  were  just  at 
supper.  They  had  milk,  black  bread,  boiled  potatoes  and  raw 
ham.  I  found  these  all  very  acceptable.  After  awhile  the 
whole  company  left,  except  the  landlord  and  the  old  woman. 
I  smoked  my  pipe  and  tried  to  talk;  but,  although  I  was  un- 
derstood, I  only  half  understood  my  hosts,  who  spoke  only 
Low  Dutch,  and  quite  a  different  dialect  from  that  of  my 
friends  in  Mecklenburg,  with  whose  language  I  had  become 
tolerably  well  acquainted  at  Jena.  After  some  time  I  asked 
to  retire.  I  had  noticed  before  a  row  of  what  I  supposed  to 
be  clothes  presses,  all  along  one  side  of  the  room.  But  what 
was  my  astonishment  when  the  landlord  pushed  one  of  the 
doors  aside,  and  I  discovered  that  it  was  a  sort  of  cabin  with 
two  bunks,  in  each  of  which  was  a  bed.  "You  may  undress 
here,"  the  landlord  said,  "and  turn  in.  I  shall  close  up  the 
concern  when  you  are  in,  and  then  the  other  people  will  come 
and  get  into  the  other  beds. ' '  I  did  not  like  the  arrangement 
at  all ;  but  what  could  I  do  ?  The  landlord  said  this  was  the 
only  sleeping-room  in  the  house.  So,  paying  no  attention  to 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  127 

the  old  woman,  I  turned  in,  leaving  a  portion  of  the  movable 
door  open,  for  fear  of  suffocation.  I  soon  fell  asleep,  but  in 
the  morning  discovered  that  one  of  the  sons  had  taken  the 
upper  berth.  When  I  awoke,  all  the  folks  were  up,  the  women 
were  milking  the  cows,  and  the  boys  feeding  the  horses.  Milk, 
honey,  black  bread,  good  butter,  and  fat  bacon  made  quite  a 
good  breakfast,  and  after  a  march  of  some  fifteen  or  twenty 
miles  I  reached  Hamburg. 

None  of  my  intimate  friends  were  then  in  Hamburg,  so 
I  stopped  at  a  rather  indifferent  hotel,  —  the  one  that  had 
been  recommended  to  me  being  full  to  overflowing.  One  of 
my  acquaintances,  however,  introduced  me  to  a  young  man 
who  took  charge  of  me  and  who  turned  out  to  be  a  most  de- 
lightful and  sociable  companion.  It  was  no  less  a  person  than 
Ludolf  Wienbarg.  He  was  some  years  older  than  I,  and  had 
already  a  local  literary  reputation.  His  conversation  was 
most  interesting,  and  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  listen  to  him. 
He  had  the  latest  literature  of  Germany  and  France  at  his 
fingers'  ends.  He  took  me  to  the  London  Tavern,  where  a 
real  John  Bull  kept  real  porter,  and  where  English  beefsteak 
was  a  specialty.  The  evenings  we  spent  at  the  new  Alster 
Pavilions.  Wherever  we  went,  we  found  friends  of  like  lit- 
erary tastes.  A  few  years  later  he  published  his  "Aesthetic 
Campaigns,"  which  at  once  made  him  favorably  known  to  all 
Germany.  He  dedicated  them  to  "Young  Germany,"  and 
from  this  expression  the  new  school  of  German  Literati  took 
its  title.  He  was  considered  the  head  of  that  school,  and  fell 
under  the  ban  of  the  German  Federal  Diet.  All  his  publica- 
tions, as  well  as  those  of  Wolfgang  Menzel,  Heinrich  Heine, 
Henry  Laube,  Carl  Gutzkow,  and  several  others,  were  prohib- 
ited. He  was  the  author  of  "Contributions  to  Recent  Liter- 
ature," and  in  later  years  of  a  history  of  Schleswig.  He  was 
certainly  a  man  of  genius,  but  had  also  some  of  the  faults 
which  often  obscure  exuberant  brightness. 

I  saw  everything  that  was  to  be  seen  in  Hamburg  at  that 
time,  including  a  splendid  excursion  to  the  Harvestehude, 


128  MEMOIRS  OP  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

situated  among  majestic  woods.  I  also  enjoyed  hearing  the 
then  very  celebrated  prima  donna,  Madame  Kraus  Wranitzky, 
in  Gluck's  "Iphigenia  in  Tauris." 

The  evening  of  the  15th  I  left  Hamburg  by  stage,  passed 
the  fertile  Vierlanden,  and  crossed  the  Elbe.  On  the  west 
side  of  the  Elbe  the  Lueneburg  Heath  begins,  which  seemed  to 
be  interminable.  Arriving  at  Lueneburg  at  night,  we  were  de- 
tained there,  and  did  not  get  to  Brunswick  until  twelve  o  'clock 
that  night.  I  stayed  at  the  Hotel  d 'Angleterre,  took  a  cup 
of  tea  and  some  rolls  for  supper,  had  coffee  and  rolls  for  break- 
fast, and  two  Prussian  dollars  for  my  bill.  (True,  I  had  a 
very  large  fine  room  and  a  solid  silver  candlestick  with  three 
wax-lights.)  Viewing  this  very  interesting  old  city,  I  then, 
by  way  of  "Wblfenbuettel,  made  a  very  pleasant  journey,  walk- 
ing leisurely  through  a  fine  fertile  country,  with  the  Hartz 
Mountains  always  on  my  right,  to  Quedlinburg,  where  I  stop- 
ped for  a  day's  rest,  finally  reaching  Halle.  The  way  I  went 
I  must  have  traveled  more  than  a  hundred  miles. 

I  was  detained  in  Halle  by  an  affair  of  my  Jena  friend 
Bierstaedt,  who,  though  there  only  on  a  visit,  had  been  chal- 
lenged by  a  Halle  student ;  and,  as  Bierstaedt  was  unfamiliar 
with  the  broadsword,  and  the  Halle  student  with  the  short 
sword,  the  duel  was  fought  with  curved  cavalry  sabres.  He 
insisted  on  my  being  his  second.  The  duel  took  place  without 
serious  wounds  being  inflicted;  but  it  was  hardly  over  when 
we  were  informed  that  the  University  police  had  got  wind 
of  it.  As  these  extraordinary  duels  were  prohibited  by  pen- 
alties almost  as  severe  as  pistol  duels,  we  immediately  left 
Halle  in  a  light  carriage,  and,  promising  a  big  tip  to  the  driver, 
flew  to  the  Saxon  frontier,  about  half  way  between  Halle  and 
Leipzic;  sent  the  carriage  back,  and  footed  it  to  the  latter 
place,  from  where  we  returned  to  Jena,  just  in  time  for  the 
beginning  of  the  lectures. 

Take  it  all  in  all,  it  was  a  wonderful  journey;  and  as  I 
took  the  stage  only  through  some  very  barren  regions,  and 
walked  about  half  of  the  way,  stopping  with  few  exceptions 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  129 

with  friends,  it  cost  me  but  very  little.  I  do  not  think  my 
expenses  were  more  than  thirty  dollars,  and  I  was  gone  nearly 
six  weeks. 

This  being  the  last  term  I  intended  to  stay  at  Jena,  I 
began  it  with  the  determined  purpose  to  study  hard;  and  I 
did  so  for  about  two  months.  But  the  outbreak  of  the  July 
Revolution  in  France,  with  its  "three  glorious  days,"  worked 
a  great  change  in  my  quiet  every-day  life. 

POLITICAL  DISTURBANCES  OP   1830 

I  observed  before  that  the  spirit  of  liberty  and  unity 
which  had  actuated  the  German  people  since  the  wars  of  lib- 
erty, had  never  been  entirely  suppressed  by  the  terrible  perse- 
cutions of  some  of  the  best  patriots  and  particularly  of  the 
youth  of  the  Universities.  It  manifested  itself  again  when  the 
people  of  Naples  in  1820  rose  against  their  worthless  and 
tyrannical  King,  compelling  him  to  grant  a  constitutional 
government,  as  well  as  when  the  revolutions  took  place  in 
Piedmont  and  Spain,  where  the  nefarious  tyrant,  Ferdinand 
VII,  was  also  made  to  restore  the  Liberal  Constitution  of  the 
Cortes  of  1812.  These  revolutions  were  put  down  by  the  bay- 
onets of  the  "Unholy"  Alliance,  and  the  new  systems  abol- 
ished. The  universal  sympathy  shown  for  these  nations  by 
the  intelligent  classes  of  the  German  people  and  even  by  the 
masses,  was  a  sure  indication  of  the  dissatisfaction  prevailing 
at  home.  The  war  of  liberation  of  the  Greeks,  and  their  heroic 
and  at  last  partly  successful  struggle,  kept  up  the  political 
excitement.  In  some  of  the  South  German  States  which  had 
some  sort  of  constitutional  and  parliamentary  government,  the 
press  was  comparatively  free,  and  the  journals  printed  there 
were  circulated  largely  in  the  other  States  of  the  Bund,  even 
when  prohibited.  Imperfect  as  the  election-laws  were  in  those 
constitutional  States  (Bavaria,  Wuertemberg,  Baden,  Hesse- 
Darmstadt),  yet  the  few  citizens  who  were  privileged  to  vote 
never  failed  to  send  some  fearless  and  distinguished  men  to 
the  legislative  chambers  who  criticised  the  measures  of  the 


130  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

government,  proposed  reforms  and  frequently  succeeded  in 
warding  off  illiberal  and  tyrannical  measures. 

Great  attention  was  paid  to  the  news  from  France.  Since 
the  death  of  Louis  XVIII,  who  was  sensible  enough  not  to 
carry  reaction  too  far,  and  after  his  brother,  the  bigoted  and 
arbitrary  Charles  X,  had  become  King,  the  liberal  opposition 
in  France,  led  by  able  men,  grew  very  powerful.  The  opposi- 
tion-forces, under  men  like  Thiers,  Guizot,  Armand  Carrel, 
and  Louis  Courier,  were  unceasing  in  their  attacks  on  the 
absolutism  of  the  crown  and  the  supremacy  of  the  clergy.  In 
songs  (Beranger)  and  in  trenchant  pamphlets,  the  government 
was  denounced,  and,  what  was  still  worse  in  France,  ridiculed. 
Republican  and  Orleanist  conspiracies  were  formed.  St. 
Simon  and  Fourier  astonished  the  world  with  their  com- 
munistic and  socialistic  ideas,  Utopian  to  be  sure,  but  still 
containing  some  grains  of  truth.  There  is  no  question,  (if 
one  will  be  just,)  but  that  France  at  that  time  was  in  politics, 
in  literature,  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  at  the  head  of  Europe ; 
and  the  German  Liberals,  who  at  that  time  looked  up  to  France 
as  being  probably  able  to  exercise  an  immense  influence  in 
favor  of  liberty  even  in  Germany,  cannot  be  blamed  if  they 
took  a  deep  interest  in  whatever  happened  in  Paris,  and  if 
they  followed  the  fiery  and  spirited  debates  in  the  French 
Chambers  with  more  interset  than  the  debates  in  the  German 
legislatures,  which  were  at  best  not  very  important. 

No  one  at  the  present  day,  unless  he  is  very  familiar  with 
the  history  of  those  times,  can  form  an  idea  of  what  excite- 
ment was  created  by  the  French  Revolution  of  July  all  over 
Germany,  —  and,  I  may  even  say,  all  over  Europe  and  in 
England  in  particular,  —  and  how  it  affected  above  all  the 
liberal  young  men  of  the  Burschenschaften.  We  nailed  on 
the  blackboard  of  the  University  all  the  bulletins  favorable 
to  the  Revolution.  We  threw  up  our  black-red-and-gold  caps, 
and  sang  the  Marseillaise;  and  I  am  not  ashamed  of  it  now; 
for  we  took  this  revolution  to  be  the  dawn  of  liberty  in  our 
own  country.  And  not  only  were  the  majority  of  intelligent 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  131 

Germans  fully  aroused,  but  even  the  masses  of  the  people  in 
the  South  and  West,  who,  through  the  workings  of  repre- 
sentative governments,  had  become  enlightened  as  to  the  op- 
pression under  which  they  suffered.  One  of  their  chief  com- 
plaints was  the  hindrance  to  trade,  commerce,  and  industry 
by  the  customs  lines  round  most  of  the  German  States,  both 
large  and  small.  If  heavy  duties  were  exacted  upon  articles 
of  consumption  in  one  State,  the  neighboring  States  retaliated 
by  imposing  still  higher  ones.  Some  States  even  taxed  goods 
in  transit.  The  small  farmers  and  the  peasantry  rose  in 
great  numbers  in  some  of  the  smaller  States,  as  in  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt, Hesse-Cassel,  and  Nassau,  petitioning  for  redress.  As 
the  government  furnished  none,  they  took  up  whatever  weap- 
ons they  could  lay  hold  of,  burnt  down  the  custom-house  sta- 
tions, drove  away  unpopular  officials,  and,  finally,  had  to  be 
suppressed  in  bloody  fight  by  the  military.  These  news  came 
to  us  exaggerated.  Such  scenes  had  foreshadowed  the  first 
great  French  Revolution,  and  we  —  not  only  we  young  men, 
but  thousands  of  others  —  now  expected  a  general  revolution 
in  Germany. 

Early  in  September,  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  a  miniature 
despot,  was  driven  out  of  his  capital,  and  the  ducal  palace 
burnt  down.  A  little  later  there  were  tumults  at  Leipzic. 
Some  houses  of  ill-fame  were  set  on  fire,  and  the  residences  of 
government  officers  stoned.  Petitions  from  all  classes  were 
drawn  up,  demanding  municipal  reform.  In  Dresden  more 
serious  disturbances  took  place.  The  police-building  and  the 
council-house  were  burnt  down;  communal  guards,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  French  National  Guards,  were  formed;  the 
King  compelled  in  a  manner  to  abdicate ;  his  nephew  made  co- 
regent;  and  a  constitution  was  promised.  The  Elector  of 
Hesse  was  also  forced  to  accept  his  son  as  co-regent,  and  to 
pledge  himself  to  grant  a  constitution  with  the  consent  of 
delegates  elected  by  the  people.  There  was  hardly  a  State 
except  Prussia  in  which  reforms  were  not  promised  to  pre- 
vent revolutions. 


132 

All  these  things,  taking  place  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
summer  session  of  the  University,  were  calculated  to  draw 
our  attention  to  a  great  extent  from  our  studies.  Every  day 
almost  brought  new  excitement ;  revolutionary  risings  in  Swit- 
zerland, in  Italy,  and,  last  but  not  least,  in  the  Netherlands, 
where  the  southern  provinces  rose  against  the  Union  that  had 
been  formed  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna  between  Belgium  and 
Holland.  The  troops  of  the  King  were  beaten,  and  though 
Brussels  was  bombarded,  soon  nothing  was  left  to  the  House 
of  Orange  in  Belgium  but  the  citadel  of  Antwerp. 

The  first  news  we  got  in  Jena  of  the  disturbances  in  Leip- 
zic  was  calculated  to  raise  the  impression  that  a  serious  move- 
ment, aiming  at  the  subversion  of  the  government,  (which 
had  been  deaf  to  all,  even  the  most  reasonable,  propositions 
for  reform,)  had  sprung  up.  Leipsic  was  the  intellectual  and 
industrial  capital  of  Saxony,  and  a  successful  revolt  there, 
would  extend  throughout  the  Kingdom  and  to  the  surround- 
ing small  Saxon  Duchies.  Weber,  I,  and  some  others,  whose 
names  I  have  forgotten,  started,  the  same  night  we  received 
the  news,  for  Leipsic.  We  collected  on  the  Saale  Bridge 
about  midnight,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  next  day  reached 
Leipsic.  But  we  found  things  very  different  from  what  we 
had  expected.  Some  gambling  dens  and  other  public  nuisances 
had  been  burnt  down  by  the  populace.  The  citizens  had  ap- 
plied to  the  city-council  by  petition  for  the  redress  of  certain 
grievances.  The  house  of  a  very  unpopular  official,  the  Royal 
Oouncilor  Von  Ende,  had  been  attacked,  and  a  petition  sent 
to  Dresden  for  his  removal.  The  students  had  also  petitioned 
the  authorities  of  the  University  to  reform  some  trifling  mat- 
ters that  seemed  to  encroach  on  the  academical  liberty.  But 
the  whole  uprising  appeared  to  be  a  merely  local  affair. 

Since,  however,  a  good  many  excesses  had  been  committed 
by  the  crowds,  consisting  of  thousands  of  artisans,  factory- 
laborers,  and  vagabonds,  (of  which  latter  class  many  are  al- 
ways found  in  industrial  places  like  Leipsic,  particularly  at 
the  time  of  its  great  fairs,)  companies  of  students  and  citi- 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  133 

zens  had  been  enrolled  to  patrol  the  city  at  night,  and  to  keep 
the  council-house,  city-gates,  prisons  and  other  public  build- 
ings guarded.  We  of  Jena  enrolled  at  once,  the  Burschen- 
schaft  forming  one  company,  —  just  for  the  fun  of  it.  We 
had  badges  on  our  left  arms,  and  small  rapiers  and  cavalry 
swords  at  our  sides.  We  were  one  day  on  guard  at  the  prin- 
cipal gate,  the  Petersthor.  The  citizens  not  enrolled  made  it 
their  business  to  send  the  guards  all  kinds  of  provisions,  the 
best  they  could  afford,  and  plenty  of  wine  and  beer.  No  one 
slept  that  night;  we  brewed  a  splendid  punch,  and  of  course 
the  students  not  on  guard  made  it  a  point  to  call  and  see  how 
we  were  getting  along.  Indeed,  we  had  a  glorious  time.  There 
are  beautiful  promenades  around  the  city,  and  in  the  evening 
they  are  always  full  of  people.  Whenever  the  one  who  stood 
sentinel  saw  a  pretty  girl  pass  either  out  of  or  into  the  city 
through  the  gate,  he  would  call  out  the  entire  guard  and  we 
would  hasten  out,  draw  up  in  line,  and  present  arms.  Young 
as  we  were,  we  forgot  all  about  revolution,  reforms,  constitu- 
tions and  politics  generally,  and  enjoyed  ourselves  for  three 
days  most  gloriously  in  Leipsic.  By  way  of  Altenburg,  where 
there  had  also  been  a  little  outbreak,  but  where  peace  had 
been  restored,  we  returned  to  Jena,  where  the  professors  and 
students  had  also  formed  a  sort  of  national  guard,  —  a  pre- 
caution utterly  ridiculous  and  in  a  few  days  defunct. 

A  PISTOL  DUEL  IN  JENA 

There  was  another  thing  which  disturbed  me  in  my  stud- 
ies. A  spirit  of  discontent  arose  in  our  society.  There  were 
some  members  who  thought  themselves  slighted  in  not  being 
elected  officers  of  the  society,  and  who  had  much  to  say  about 
an  aristocratic  party,  the  members  of  which  considered  them- 
selves superior  to  their  associates.  There  may  have  been  some 
truth  in  this.  But  the  main  opposition  came  from  those  who 
were  conservative  in  their  political  views  and  who  had  become 
more  or  less  infected  with  the  principles  of  the  Arminians,  a 
society  that  in  Erlangen  and  Wuerzburg  had  seceded  from 


134  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  Universal  Burschenschaft.  These  malcontents  used  their 
influence  particularly  with  the  members  who  did  not  belong 
to  the  inner  circle,  making  them  believe  that  the  conditions 
of  their  full  admission  were  too  severe.  Quarrels  arose ;  there 
was  much  irritation;  and  more  duels  were  fought  in  that 
session  than  in  the  three  previous  ones  I  had  attended.  I  had 
my  share  of  it,,  either  as  principal  or  second,  for  I  was  very 
much  in  demand  in  the  latter  capacity.  One  duel  of  extra- 
ordinary gravity,  which,  however,  affected  me  only  as  sec- 
ond, I  may  mention. 

One  of  our  members,  Frederick  Schenk,  from  Meiningen, 
on  an  excursion  to  that  charming  place  the  Rudelsburg,  near 
Bath  Koesen  on  the  Saale  River,  had  quaraled  with  a  lieuten- 
ant of  the  Saxon  army,  and,  having  been  insulted,  I  believe, 
struck  him.  He  was  challenged  by  the  officer,  and,  as  was 
usual  between  students  and  officers  or  civilians,  the  weapons 
selected  were  pistols.  The  woods  near  the  Kunitzburg,  some 
four  miles  below  Jena,  were  chosen  as  the  place  of  meeting. 
I  was  not  intimate  with  Schenk,  but  he  was  a  good-natured, 
honest  young  fellow,  and,  having  had  difficulty  in  obtaining 
a  second,  he  finally  applied  to  me ;  and  I  could  not  refuse,  al- 
though I  had  had  no  experience  in  duels  of  that  sort. 
_ai  On  a  cloudy,  disagreeable  morning,  we  drove  out  to  the 
place;  I,  in  the  meantime  having  got  information  as  to  what 
the  practice  was  in  such  cases,  from  the  surgeon  we  had  taken 
along,  who  had  witnessed  several  pistol  duels.  Our  adversary 
had  a  good  distance  to  come,  and  we  had  to  wait  for  him  sev- 
eral hours.  His  party  consisted  of  the  lieutenant  and  two 
high  officers,  all  being  either  barons  or  counts,  accompanied 
by  a  physician.  We  found  no  opening  hi  the  woods,  and  had 
to  take  a  rather  narrow  forest-road  for  the  fields.  We  drew 
chips  for  choice  of  distance.  Schenk  won.  The  terms  were 
thirty  paces,  each  having  the  privilege  of  advancing  ten 
steps,  leaving  a  space  of  ten  steps  as  a  bar  between  them.  I 
took  a  position,  which  was  marked  by  driving  in  a  stick,  and 
then  stepped  off  the  thirty  paces.  As  Schenk  was  no  marks- 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  135 

man,  though  he  had  practiced  a  few  days  before  the  duel  took 
place,  and  as  I  supposed  the  officer,  being  a  lieutenant  of  a 
rifle  battalion  in  garrison  atLeipsic,  to  be  pretty  well  versed 
in  pistol-shooting,  I  took  ridiculously  big  steps  in  measuring 
off  the  distance.  On  each  side  of  the  ten  feet  which  they 
were  forbidden  to  overstep,  we  marked  a  line  with  twigs  of 
trees.  Each  party  had  a  case  of  common  straight-bore  duel- 
ling pistols.  By  consent  we  took  those  of  the  officer.  Schenk  's 
pistols  were  handed  to  the  seconds,  —  for  the  seconds  had  the 
right  to  shoot  down  the  principals  if  they  violated  the  rules. 
I  do  not  think,  however,  that  there  is  any  well  authenticated 
precedent  of  a  second 's  having  made  use  of  this  authority.  The 
rule  was  undoubtedly  made  for  the  purposes  of  what  lawyers 
call  in  terrorem ;  that  is,  to  frighten  the  principals  from  acting 
dishonorably. 

The  pistols  were  now  loaded  by  the  third  officer,  who 
was  not  the  second,  in  the  presence  of  all.  We  again  drew 
for  the  word  of  command,  and  our  side  gained  it.  The  princi- 
pals then  took  their  places  —  pistols  drawn.  At  the  word 
"Three!"  they  were  to  raise  their  pistols,  start  and  fire,  ad- 
vancing to  the  bar;  but  the  moment  they  reached  this  line, 
they  were  not  permitted  to  fire  again.  We  seconds  stood  half 
way  between  them  opposite  to  one  another,  a  little  distance 
off  the  line  of  fire.  Schenk  was  a  large,  powerful  man,  a  real 
Teuton,  with  beautiful  light  brown  hair  coming  down  in  curls 
to  his  shoulders.  He  had  a  clear  and  rosy  complexion  and 
large  blue  eyes.  He  had  been  smoking  a  long  pipe  and  still 
kept  it  in  his  left  hand  when  he  took  his  stand.  I  had  in- 
structed him  not  to  expose  himself  too  much  by  marching 
full  front  towards  the  bar,  but  to  march  side  wise,  so  as  to 
show  only  his  right  side.  He  did  not  heed  my  advice,  how- 
ever, but  marched  straight  forward,  giving  his  adversary  a 
large  surface  to  hit.  The  officer  understood  it  better ;  he  was 
a  slender  young  fellow  anyway,  and  he  came  up  not  only 
sideways  but  even  in  a  slight  zigzag  line,  which,  perhaps,  was 
against  the  rules,  though  I  was  not  certain  of  this.  Both 


136  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENEE 

fired  at  the  same  time  after  having  advanced  about  five  steps, 
leaving  a  distance  of  about  twenty  paces  between  them.  The 
road  being  very  narrow  both  of  the  seconds  heard  the  whist- 
ling of  the  balls.  Both  then  advanced  to  the  bars,  but  when 
I  went  to  the  combatants  to  ask  them  whether  satisfaction 
would  be  taken,  Schenk  staggered  and  slipped  to  the  ground. 
He  had  been  shot  through  the  ankle  of  the  left  foot.  The 
boot  was  cut  off;  and  it  was  found  he  had  received  an  ugly 
and  very  painful  wound.  The  duel  was  declared  off;  the 
parties  shook  hands  all  around;  and  we  carried  our  friend 
to  the  carriage.  The  officers  behaved  like  gentlemen,  and  I 
may  say  that  we  were  no  discredit  to  our  Burschenschaft. 
They  said  that  they  had  never  seen  any  one  behave  with  more 
coolness  and  bravery  than  Schenk.  Indeed,  he  smiled  good- 
naturedly  all  the  time  he  marched  toward  the  mouth  of  the 
pistol.  The  officer  had  aimed  well  enough;  but,  as  is  often 
the  case,  balls  will  strike  much  lower  than  one  expects.  Poor 
Schenk  suffered  a  great  deal.  It  was  several  weeks  before 
he  could  use  his  foot,  and  I  believe  he  had  to  limp  all  his  life. 
The  secret  of  the  duel  was  remarkably  well  kept,  which, 
of  course,  was  very  necessary,  as  duels  with  pistols  were  not 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  University  authorities,  but 
to  that  of  the  Criminal  Courts.  Confinement  in  a  fortress 
for  at  least  two  years  is  the  smallest  punishment;  though,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  after  a  short  confinement  pardon  was  sure 
to  be  granted.  Such  is  the  force  of  public  opinion,  which  will 
not  excuse  a  gentleman  if  he  declines  to  fight  when  challenged. 

CONCLUDING   REFLECTIONS   ON    JENA 

The  time  to  leave  Jena  for  another  University  had  ar- 
rived. The  days  I  had  passed  in  that  place  were  sunny  days 
indeed.  I  was  strong,  healthy,  and  always  in  good  spirits.  I 
was  an  honored  member  of  a  society  composed  of  young  men 
from  all  parts  of  the  fatherland,  from  the  Alps  to  the  Baltic 
and  North  Seas,  from  the  Danube  to  the  Elbe  and  Weser, 
from  the  Rhone  to  the  Oder  and  Weichsel.  Some  of  them 


LAST  YEAR  AT  JENA  137 

were  men  of  genius.  The  majority  of  them  were  men  of  high 
intellectual  culture,  one  and  all  of  them  filled  with  an  intense 
love  of  German  unity  and  liberty,  not  a  few  of  them  ready 
to  lay  down  their  lives  any  moment  for  the  realization  of  their 
ideas.  Birth  or  fortune  counted  among  us  for  nothing.  In- 
telligence, courage,  truthfulness,  sense  of  personal  honor,  and 
nothing  else,  gave  power  and  influence.  While  by  the  con- 
stitution, and  much  more  so  by  the  traditions  of  the  Burschen- 
schaft,  meanness  and  licentiousness  were  not  tolerated,  but 
visited  by  the  expulsion  of  the  guilty,  most  of  us  led  a  very 
liberal,  free-and-easy  student-life.  We  indulged  in  all  kinds 
of  jovialty  and  even  in  frolics,  sometimes  extravagant,  but 
never  subversive  of  the  good  opinion  for  moral  conduct  in 
which  the  Burschenschaft,  from  its  beginning,  was  held  by 
the  professors  and  citizens  of  the  Universities  where  the  so- 
cieties existed.  A  certain  asceticism  and  inclination  to  mysti- 
cism, which  had  manifested  itself  in  the  first  four  or  five  years 
of  the  Burschenschaft,  had  vanished.  We  had  become,  as  al- 
ready observed,  more  realistic.  Our  society  was  open  to  both 
Jew  and  Gentile,  and  I  really  should  not  have  been  able  to 
tell  the  religion  of  most  of  my  friends.  "Do  right  and  fear 
no  one, ' '  seems  to  have  been  the  only  religion  adopted  amongst 
us. 

As  the  Burschenschaft  had  taken  its  start  in  Jena,  had, 
in  the  time  of  the  tyrannical  reaction,  been  severely  perse- 
cuted and  had  furnished  many  eminent  victims  for  imprison- 
ment and  exile,  it  took  the  lead  of  all  the  affiliated  societies 
in  the  other  Universities;  and  to  be  a  Jena  Burschenschafter 
was  the  best  passport,  not  only  among  all  students  as  such, 
but  even  among  a  great  many  intelligent  citizens  all  over  the 
country.  But  I  had  to  leave. 


CHAPTER  VI 
Munich 

"Die  schoenen  Tagen  von  Aranjuez  sind  jetzt  vomeber." 

I  had  determined  to  attend  the  University  of  Munich  for 
the  last  year  of  my  studies.  Mother,  sisters,  and  brother  Carl 
were  much  opposed  to  my  going  there.  They  thought  that 
Munich  was  no  place  for  a  Protestant  to  go  to;  that  the  Uni- 
versity was  under  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  and  that  it 
did  not  have  a  good  reputation  for  scholarship.  It  was  also 
intimated  that  Munich  was  rather  a  dissolute  place.  Now, 
as  for  the  Jesuits,  I  did  not  care;  that  could  affect  only  the 
theological  faculty ;  and  as  for  the  objection  to  the  other  pro- 
fessors, it  was  not  well  founded.  For  Professor  Von  Maurer 
stood  very  high  as  a  lecturer  on  the  history  of  German  public 
law,  and  Professor  Beyer  was  an  excellent  teacher  of  the 
German  civil  and  ecclesiastical  law.  What  inclined  me  to 
the  place  was  that  it  was  a  large  city  with  many  opportunities 
for  instruction  in  other  branches  than  the  law.  I  also  thought 
that  in  such  a  city  student-life  would  not  be  as  absorbing  as 
in  one  of  the  minor  Universities.  Besides,  and  that  was  a 
weighty  consideration,  it  was  no  more  expensive  than  Jena, 
and  afforded  in  every  respect  a  much  better  and  finer  living. 
I  also  had  become  strongly  attached  to  Theodore  Engelmann, 
who,  being  a  citizen  of  Bavaria,  was  by  law  compelled  to  pass 
at  least  a  year  at  Munich,  and  so  had  to  go  there  again.  We 
had  already  arranged  to  room  together.  I  finally  succeeded 
in  obtaining  the  consent  of  my  family.  Mother  was  right 
when,  at  a  later  period,  she  said:  "O,  had  you  only  followed 
my  advice.  I  had  some  premonition  that  evil  would  befall 
you  there." 


MUNICH  139 

PROM    JENA   TO    ERLANGEN 

On  the  fifteenth  of  October  I  left  Jena,  accompanied  by 
Willie  Weber  and  some  other  friends,  who  brought  us  in  a 
carriage  to  Kahla,  at  the  foot  of  the  large  chateau  and  old 
fortress  of  Weimar,  the  Leuchtenburg.  Here  we  parted, 
deeply  moved.  Tears  filled  the  eyes  of  William,  who,  in  spite 
of  his  occasional  wildness  and  fearlessness,  amounting  almost 
to  temerity,  was  very  tender-hearted,  and  whose  strong  at- 
tachment to  me  ended  only  with  life.  One,  whose  name 
I  regret  not  being  able  to  recollect,  but  who  was  also  of  our 
society,  and  bound  for  Wuerzburg,  had  been  persuaded  by 
me  to  make  a  detour  through  the  Fichtelgebirge  (Pine  Moun- 
tains), which  I  had  proposed  to  visit  on  my  journey  to  Mu- 
nich. By  Poessneck  and  Schleiz,  quite  handsome  and  lively 
cities,  through  fine  valleys  and  forests,  we  went  to  Hof  in 
Bavaria.  There  we  found  some  of  our  Jena  friends  at  home, 
and  spent  a  day  or  two  quite  pleasantly.  One  of  them,  well 
acquainted  with  the  country,  accompanied  us  to  Wunsiedel, 
sacred  to  our  young  hearts  as  the  birthplace  of  Jean  Paul  and 
of  the  unfortunate  Carl  Sand,  and  beautifully  situated.  From 
there  we  went  to  the  charming  Alexander  Bath,  to  the  chateau 
and  park  of  Louisenburg,  from  where  we  had  a  splendid 
retrospect  of  the  Thuringian  Mountains;  west  to  the  Schnee- 
berg  and  Ochsenkopf ,  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Fichtelgebirge, 
and  east  and  south  towards  the  Bohemian  Mountains.  We 
then  walked  to  (the  foot  of  the  Ochsenkopf,  which  is  some 
three  thousand  feet  high,  and  the  next  morning  ascended  to 
the  source  of  the  Main.  We  rested  there  under  the  shade  of 
some  majestic  trees  for  about  an  hour.  A  little  spring,  clear 
as  crystal,  is  compressed  within  a  little  stone  wall,  and  from 
there  trickles  down  and  forms  a  small  brook,  which,  however, 
is  soon  swelled  by  various  other  rivulets.  We  had  a  guide, 
and  by  filling  several  large  tumblers,  we  stopped,  for  a  second, 
the  whole  river.  My  thoughts  carried  me  back  to  my  dear 
Frankfort. 


140  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENER 

We  then  ascended  the  Ochsenkopf,  and  after  enjoying 
a  broader,  though  similar,  view  to  that  at  Louisenburg,  went 
down  into  the  valley  of  the  Oelsnitz  to  Berneck,  a  most  pic- 
turesque place  surrounded  by  the  ruins  of  several  castles. 
My  friend  was  intimately  acquainted  with  Von  Sensburg, 
whose  father  resided  at  Berneck,  holding  the  position  of  judge 
of  the  district.  Sensburg  had  been  a  student  at  Wuerzburg, 
but  was  now  at  home  and  also  intended  to  go  to  Munich, 
though  not  yet  ready.  I  remained  two  days  in  the  hospitable 
house  of  the  judge ;  and  my  new  friend  Sensburg,  in  his  light 
carriage  with  two  noble  horses,  brought  me  to  Bayreuth,  once 
seat  of  a  magnificent  residence-palace,  of  which  some  traces 
are  left.  It  has  a  fine  situation  on  the  Red  Main,  an  affluent 
to  the  Main. 

At  Bayreuth  I  found  a  coach  bound  for  Erlangen,  in 
which  some  gentlemen  had  already  engaged  seats.  Early  in 
the  morning  we  left  Bayreuth,  the  coach  being  a  very  hand- 
some landau,  the  top  of  which  could  be  let  down,  giving  us  a 
fair  view  of  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Wiesent  and  the  Fran- 
conian  Switzerland,  as  it  is  called.  Of  course,  the  comparison 
with  Switzerland  is  inappropriate;  but  the  country  around 
Muggendorf  and  Streitberg  is  of  a  most  wonderful  conforma- 
tion. The  valley  is  bounded  by  rocks  of  considerable  height, 
showing  the  most  singular  and  grotesque  figures.  We  visited 
the  Muggendorfer  cave,  a  large  stalactite  grotto,  very  similar 
to  Baumann's  Cave  in  the  Hartz  Mountains.  On  the  top  of 
some  of  the  rocks  hang  the  ruins  of  old  castles.  Take  it  all 
in  all,  I  thought  that  I  had  never  seen  within  so  short  a  time 
such  romantic  and  grand  scenery.  We  finally  entered  the  val- 
ley of  the  Rednitz  and  reached  beloved  Erlangen  just  at  sun- 
set. 

In  Erlangen  I  spent  a  few  days  very  pleasantly;  went 
to  Nuremberg,  where  Von  Godin  and  another  student,  both 
of  whom  were  on  their  way  to  Munich,  joined  me,  and,  taking 
the  return  coach  to  Munich,  reached  that  place  by  the  old 


MUNICH  141 

beaten  route  (Eichstaedt,  Ingolstadt)  about  the  26th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1830. 

A  more  detailed  narrative  of  my  journey  from  Jena  to 
Erlangen  is  amongst  my  papers,  headed  "Through  the  Fich- 
telgebirge,"  describing  the  various  scenery  and  the  interest- 
ing people  we  met  on  our  route. 

LIFE  AND  STUDIES  IN  MUNICH 

On  my  arrival  at  Munich  I  found  Theodore  Engelmann 
already  there.  He  had  engaged  rooms  from  a  Miss  Von 
Schmitt  in  the  Neuhaeuser  Strasse,  not  far  from  the  Karls- 
thor,  and  opposite  the  Jesuit  Church  and  the  University  build- 
ing. It  was  a  good  wide  street  and  a  principal  thoroughfare. 
The  rooms,  it  is  true,  were  in  the  fourth  story  (what  would 
here  be  the  fifth)  ;  but  this  had  the  advantage  that  we  were 
not  disturbed  by  the  street  noises.  At  our  age,  to  climb  that 
high,  several  times  a  day,  was  a  matter  of  no  consequence. 
We  had  one  very  large  room,  with  four  windows  toward  the 
street,  a  part  of  which  at  the  back  was  made  into  an  alcove 
for  our  beds.  The  furniture  was  good  and  everything  was 
kept  very  clean.  Miss  Von  Schmitt  was  an  old  maid,  the  or- 
phan daughter  of  some  royal  official,  and  had  a  little  money 
of  her  own  and  a  pension  from  the  government.  She  had 
taken  this  four  story  flat,  renting  her  two  front  rooms.  She 
had  garnered  up  all  her  natural  kindness  and  bestowed  it  upon 
her  friends  and  the  world  generally.  She  treated  us  with  a 
motherly  kindness.  Perhaps  I  am  not  quite  accurate.  Theo- 
dore was  the  main  object  of  her  care.  I  was  rather  the  step- 
son. She  was  rather  suspicious  of  me.  She  thought  I  was  too 
wild,  and  when  our  room  was  turned  into  a  duelling  ground, 
on  account  of  its  being  safe  from  police  interference,  (for 
the  clang  of  arms  could  not  possibly  be  heard  in  the  street 
below  and  hardly  in  the  lower  stories,)  she  was  in  despair 
and  deplored  me  to  desist.  I  am  so  particular  as  to  Miss  Von 
Schmitt,  for  somewhat  later  she  rendered  me  a  great  service 


142  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

and  remained  in  correspondence  for  many  years  with  our  re- 
lations in  Germany. 

We  found  the  Burschenschaft  in  Munich  in  a  prosperous 
state.  It  was  recognized  by  the  government  by  the  name  of 
Germania.  It  was  far  ahead  of  all  the  other  student  societies, 
which,  with  the  exception  of  the  Helvetia  and  the  Caesaria, 
were  hardly  respectable,  and  with  which  we  had  no  connec- 
tion whatever.  By  far  the  greatest  number  of  students  at 
Munich  did  not  belong  to  any  society.  On  the  other  hand  we 
had  many  friends  amongst  the  artists,  painters,  sculptors,  and 
architects  that  swarm  in  Munich,  who  would  come  to  our  club- 
house, and  take  part  in  our  excursions.  Some  of  our  mem- 
bers had  brothers  in  the  army,  and  they  also  sought  our  com- 
pany. This  intercourse  with  non-students  made  our  life  still 
more  interesting.  We  were,  or  rather  imagined  ourselves  to 
be,  a  rather  superior  set  of  fellows.  There  was  Stumpf,  a 
noble  fellow,  who  was  speaker,  I  believe,  when  I  arrived; 
Hoeninghaus,  from  the  lower  Rhine,  a  very  talented  and  well 
educated  young  man;  Benno  Von  Raisch,  whom  we  lost  the 
next  summer  by  death,  and  to  whom  we  gave  a  most  pompous 
funeral;  Anthony  Guitzmann,  a  most  amiable  man,  who  ob- 
tained a  high  position  afterwards  as  surgeon-general  of  the 
Bavarian  Army;  Von  Crailsheim,  one  of  the  most  jovial  and 
sociable  of  fellows;  Joseph  Kircher,  from  Fulda,  who,  not 
long  after  me,  came  to  the  United  States,  and  was  long  an 
honored  citizen  of  Belleville;  Von  Waldenfels,  from  Fran- 
conia,  a  high-minded,  sterling  young  man;  the  most  amiable 
Von  Sensburg,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  before;  Von  Godin, 
from  Bamberg;  Schauberg,  from  Rhenish  Bavaria;  Prosper, 
from  the  lower  Rhine ;  Gutienne,  from  Saarlouis ;  Soherr,  from 
Bingen,  —  all  hail-fellows-well-met  and  full  of  the  love  of 
liberty.  Some  others  who  were  popular  amongst  us  I  cannot 
name,  recollecting  only  their  nicknames,  which  most  students 
have. 

Living  was  very  cheap,  and  the  beer,  of  course,  was  ex- 
cellent. There  were  some  wine-houses,  where  the  best  wines 


MUNICH  143 

were  kept,  but  except  those  from  Rhenish  Bavaria,  they  were 
very  dear.  Students  and  officers  could  visit  the  Royal  The- 
atre cheaply. 

I  engaged  lectures  with  Professor  Von  Maurer  on  the 
history  of  the  German  law.  Maurer  was  then  a  memjber  of 
the  upper  house  of  the  Bavarian  legislature,  and  became  af- 
terwards, during  the  minority  of  King  Otto  of  Greece,  one 
of  the  regents  of  that  kingdom.  Ecclesiastical  and  German 
civil  law,  I  studied  under  Professor  Beyer.  I  also  attended 
the  lectures  of  Professor  Stahl  on  the  philosophy  of  law. 
Stahl,  of  Jewish  descent,  was  a  man  of  eminent  talents,  of 
deep  learning,  and  a  most  fascinating  lecturer.  He  was  of 
splendid  stature,  and  had  sparkling  eyes.  At  that  time  he 
was  not  a  reactionary  in  his  views,  though  even  then  he  taught 
that  states  were  not  the  products  of  human  reason,  but  found- 
ed on  the  authority  and  the  revelations  of  God.  Later  he 
went  to  the  extremes  of  absolutism,  was  called  to  Berlin,  be- 
came a  member  of  the  House  of  Lords  (Herrenhaus)  and 
leader  of  the  Junker  and  Feudal  party.  While  his  doctrines 
were  despised  by  the  Liberals,  his  uncommonly  high  talents 
were  admitted  by  all. 

While,  as  a  result  of  the  French  Revolution  of  July,  there 
had  been  uprisings  and  commotions  in  many  parts  of  Ger- 
many, Bavaria  had  remained  comparatively  quiet.  King 
Louis,  poet  and  Macaenas  of  the  arts,  had  been  considered  a 
Liberal.  He  had  heretofore  met  with  little  opposition  in  the 
chambers.  The  press  was  comparatively  free.  The  first  few 
months  after  my  arrival,  everything  was  very  quiet  in  the 
Bavarian  capital.  We  students  lived  in  dulci  jubilo.  But 
in  the  first  days  of  December  the  news  came  of  the  revolution 
in  Poland.  The  Viceroy  Constantine,  and  all  his  officers  and 
guards,  had  been  driven  out  of  Warsaw.  Not  more  than 
thirty  students  of  the  military  school  originated  the  bold  step. 
But  the  Polish  army  soon  joined,  and  then  all  the  people.  The 
news  created  the  greatest  excitement  in  Munich,  and  we  stu- 
dents at  once  hailed  the  event  with  open  hearts.  Speeches 


144  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

were  made.  Cheers  to  Poland  resounded  in  all  places  of  re- 
sort. A  number  of  our  society  concluded  to  volunteer;  but 
very  soon  learned  that  neither  Prussia  nor  Austria  would  per- 
mit anyone  to  cross  their  frontiers  to  aid  Poland.  Some  Polish 
patriot  songs,  translated  into  German,  soon  found  their  way 
to  us,  and  were  shouted  wherever  a  crowd  met. 

MUNICH  CELEBRITIES 

Through  Senator  Thomas,  of  Frankfort,  an  ever  true 
friend  of  our  family,  I  had  received  letters  of  introduction  to 
Professor  Oken,  to  Philosopher  Schelling,  to  Professor  Von 
Maurer,  and  to  Professors  Ringseis  and  Goerres.  The  letters 
to  the  two  latter  I  did  not  deliver.  They  belonged  to  the  re- 
actionary and  Ultramontane  party.  Goerres,  at  one  time  quite 
a  red  Republican,  editor  of  the  "Rhenish  Mercury,"  (consid- 
ered at  the  time  of  the  War  of  Liberation  as  the  fourth  of  the 
Allied  Powers,)  had  been  afterwards  prosecuted  by  the  Prus- 
sian government,  and  had  in  the  course  of  time  turned  out  a 
mystic  and  finally  a  Romanist  of  the  deepest  dye.  He  was  then 
one  of  the  professors  of  history  at  Munich.  I,  from  curiosity, 
attended  one  of  his  lectures.  He  was  a  man  of  powerful  frame, 
of  towering  height,  and  stood  as  straight  on  the  platform  as 
a  Prussian  grenadier,  though  then  nearly  seventy  years  of 
age.  He  used  no  notes.  He  spoke  as  by  inspiration ;  rapidly, 
and  with  the  fire  of  an  ancient  Hebrew  prophet.  He  had  a 
large  audience,  mostly  of  Catholic  students  of  theology.  He 
had  been  lecturing  on  universal  history  for  some  two  months 
when  I  heard  him.  He  had  just  reached  Noah,  who,  he  said, 
had  the  child  Jesus  in  his  lap  already.  I  got  bewildered,  did 
not  know  whether  the  man  was  in  earnest  or  mocking  his 
hearers.  They,  however,  seemed  to  be  delighted  with  these 
elegant  pyrotechnics  of  words. 

Oken  was  a  small,  nervous  man,  very  plain  and  cordial. 
I  was  invited  several  times  to  evening  parties  at  his  house. 
The  company  was  small,  mostly  professors  and  artists,  but 
there  were  often  ladies  present,  most  of  them  very  beautiful, 


MUNICH  145 

as  might  be  expected  in  a  city  known  for  the  beauty  of  its 
women  of  all  classes.  There  was  neither  tea  nor  coffee  served, 
but  light  wines,  and  chiefly  beer,  which  was  preferred  even 
by  the  ladies.  There  was  not  much  etiquette,  but  very  cordial 
intercourse.  There  was  some  good  singing  and  good  music. 

Every  Sunday  morning  I  spent  some  two  hours  in  the 
picture  gallery.  I  also  visited  the  theatre  occasionally.  For 
a  city  like  Munich,  the  theatre  was  not  what  it  ought  to  have 
been.  Eslair,  once  considered  the  greatest  dramatic  actor  in 
all  Germany,  was  still  performing ;  but  he  was  then  quite  old. 
He  had  a  gigantic  frame ;  but  his  voice  had  failed.  I  saw  him 
in  King  Lear,  one  of  his  greatest  parts;  but  he  overdid  the 
character.  A  charming  actress,  particularly  in  comedy,  was 
Charlotte  von  Hagen.  She  was  held  to  be  the  most  beautiful 
of  all  the  beautiful  women  of  Munich.  In  King  Louis's  col- 
lection of  beauties,  portraits  painted  by  the  best  painters,  and 
filling  a  room  in  the  royal  residence,  she  shone  prominently. 
By  a  friend  of  mine  I  had  been  introduced  into  a  family 
where  I  met  Charlotte,  and  also  her  beautiful  sister  Amalia, 
several  times,  and  was,  of  course,  quite  smitten  with  their 
charms  of  person  and  conversation.  Amalia  sang  excellently 
to  the  guitar.  Charlotte  was  the  favorite  of  the  students,  par- 
ticularly of  the  Germania,  who  never  failed  to  applaud  her 
under  all  circumstances.  In  fact  we  were  called  Charlotte's 
guard.  She  afterwards  was  engaged  by  the  Royal  Theatre  of 
Berlin,  where  she  was  also  much  admired.  I  attended  one 
very  singular  performance.  Victor  Hugo's  "Hernani"  had 
just  created  a  revolution  in  the  Paris  literary  world.  The 
classicists  and  the  romanticists  almost  came  to  blows  in  the 
theatre.  I  do  not  think  that  this  drama,  (of  course,  I  do  not 
speak  of  Verdi's  opera,)  was  represented  in  any  other  Ger- 
man theatre  but  Munich.  In  spite  of  the  noise  it  had  created 
in  Paris,  and  the  enthusiastic  recommendation  of  the  piece  in 
the  Munich  journals  by  some  literati,  the  house  was  only  half 
filled.  Its  brilliant,  but  stilted  and  sometimes  nonsensical, 
language  almost  dazed  the  public.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 


146  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

presence  of  the  royal  family,  the  play  would  have  been 
laughed  at  and  hooted  down;  and  even  as  it  was,  there  was 
now  and  then  some  hissing.  I  found  many  beauties  in  the 
play,  though  I  regretted  its  being  disfigured  by  so  much  ex- 
travagance. It  was  never  put  on  the  boards  again. 

THE  MUNICH  EMEUTE  OP  CHRISTMAS  EVE,  1830 

So  everything  seemed  to  go  on  quite  smoothly  with  me 
until  Christmas  eve,  or,  as  it  is  there  called,  Holy  Night.  As 
in  all  Catholic  countries,  high-mass  is  celebrated  at  midnight, 
and  the  churches  are  thronged  with  people  of  all  classes ;  while 
soon  after  dark  the  streets  become  filled  with  people  walking 
in  the  principal  avenues,  just  as  in  Protestant  countries  on 
New  Year's  eve.  Young  men  and  boys  beat  small  toy-drums 
and  play  on  fifes,  or  amuse  themselves  by  whirling  big  rattles, 
making  an  infernal  noise.  These  instruments  are  on  sale  in 
all  the  streets.  The  nearer  midnight,  the  greater  the  tumult ; 
for  by  that  time  the  men  and  boys  have  swallowed  a  good  deal 
of  Muenchener  beer. 

Now  some  of  our  society,  myself  among  them,  after  sup- 
per at  our  club-house,  had  gone  to  a  small  students'  resort, 
not  far  off.  where  there  was  an  extra  fine  sort  of  beer  on  tap. 
We  had  a  good  time,  and  were  quite  exhilarated,  though  by 
no  means  drunk,  when  we  left  the  house  about  ten  o'clock, 
to  see  what  was  going  on  in  the  streets,  and  to  attend  mass  at 
midnight.  There  were  not  more  than  five  or  six  of  us.  On 
reaching  the  Kaufunger  and  Neuhaeuser  Strasse,  we  bought 
some  of  the  big  rattles,  and  marched  along  with  the  crowd 
towards  the  Karlsthor,  when  one  of  the  company  proposed 
that  we  should  serenade  a  prominent  member  of  our  society 
who  had  just  recovered  from  a  dangerous  disease  but  had  not 
been  out  yet.  We  went  in  front  of  his  house,  called  lustily 
for  him,  and  shook  our  rattles.  He  lived  only  a  hundred 
yards  or  so  outside  of  the  Karlsthor.  He  made  his  appear- 
ance before  the  window.  We  cheered  him,  made  use  of  our 
rattles,  and  a  crowd  who  had  followed  us  played  on  their  fifes, 


MUNICH  147 

rattles  and  drums.  There  was  no  more  noise  or  tumult  made 
than  there  was  inside  of  the  city,  but  suddenly  an  over-zealous 
gen  d'arme  interfered,  and  in  the  rudest  manner  tried  to  dis- 
perse the  crowd.  We  protested  when  he  attempted  to  take 
hold  of  me.  For  the  students  at  Munich,  after  matriculation, 
are  furnished  with  a  card  on  which  their  name  and  residence 
are  written,  and  no  police  officer  is  authorized  to  arrest  a  stu- 
dent, except  in  cases  of  high  crimes,  all  he  can  do  being  to 
ask  for  the  student's  card,  and  on  complaint,  have  the  of- 
fender cited  before  the  proper  tribunal.  I  offered  my  card, 
but  he  refused  it  and  grabbed  me.  I  pushed  him  back  pretty 
roughly,  and  at  the  same  time  someone  in  the  crowd,  (it  was 
never  ascertained  who  it  was,)  knocked  him  down.  By  that 
time,  two  or  more  gens  d'armes  had  issued  from  the  guard- 
house at  the  Karlsthor  to  help  their  comrade.  They  were  re- 
ceived, however,  by  a  volley  of  hard  snow-balls,  thrown,  not 
by  us,  but  by  a  crowd  of  working  men,  laborers,  and  boys  who 
had  by  that  time  gathered  in  large  numbers. 

The  gens  d'armes  called  out  the  guards,  and  about  half 
a  dozen  soldiers  came  running  towards  us  with  fixed  bay- 
onets. The  crowd  ran  away,  and  some  of  my  friends  did  the 
same;  but  I,  and  another  member  of  our  society,  whose  real 
name  I  have  forgotten,  but  who  went  by  the  name  of  Bummel, 
and  a  young  painter,  were  surrounded.  Resistance  would 
have  been  foolish,  as  we  had  no  weapons  but  our  pipes  and 
rattles.  We  were  arrested,  taken  to  the  Karlsthor,  and  locked 
up  in  a  room  which  the  non-commissioned  officers  occupied. 
For  a  while  everything  appeared  to  be  quiet,  and  we  expected 
to  be  released  by  the  officer  on  duty,  simply  by  giving  up  our 
cards.  But  that  was  not  to  be. 

Our  friends  had,  as  I  learned  afterwards,  run  back 
through  the  gate  into  the  Neuhaeuser  Strasse,  calling  "Stu- 
dents to  the  rescue"  (Burschen  heraus).  This  was  a  sort  of 
a  rallying-cry  customary  at  the  universities  and  generally 
obeyed  by  all  the  students  belonging  to  societies.  A  good 
many  students  were  in  the  streets,  and  they  soon  gathered,  the 


148  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

word  being  passed,  "To  the  rescue  of  our  friends."  The 
dense  crowd  in  the  street,  gathered  some  from  curiosity  and 
some  from  mischief,  (many  being  quite  intoxicated,)  marched 
towards  the  gate;  false  reports  having  been  circulated  that 
some  students  had  been  killed  and  others  illegally  arrested. 
We  heard  the  terrible  noise,  and  could  hardly  account  for  it. 
Soon  the  whole  guard,  some  twenty-five  in  number,  com- 
manded by  a  lieutenant,  was  called  out,  ordered  to  load,  and 
then  drawn  up  inside  the  vaulted  gate.  It  was  said,  —  but 
with  what  truth  I  know  not,  —  that  rocks  had  been  thrown 
from  the  Carl's  Place,  and  also  from  the  Neuhaeuser  Street, 
at  the  soldiers.  "While  the  noise  and  tumult  was  increasing, 
we  were  seated  on  a  bench,  had  lighted  our  pipes,  and  were 
taking  things  quite  coolly.  Some  time  elapsed,  when  we  heard 
the  cry,  "The  cuirassiers  are  coming!"  We  heard  the  tramp 
of  their  horses  and  the  clang  of  their  swords,  and  soon  they 
cleared  a  large  space  near  the  entrance  to  the  gate  toward 
the  city.  It  was  also  said  that  when  they  rode  up,  they  were 
received  with  showers  of  stones,  but  probably  it  was  only 
snow  balls  and  pieces  of  ice  that  were  thrown. 

The  door  of  our  apartment  was  opened.  A  very  tall, 
martial-looking  officer  of  the  cuirassiers,  in  garrison  at  Mu- 
nich entered,  accompanied  by  the  lieutenant  of  the  guard. 

"Good  evening,  gentlemen,"  he  said;  "Who  of  you  is 
hurt?"  "No  one,"  I  replied.  "How  did  you  get  here?"  he 
asked.  I  briefly  told  him  what  had  happened.  I  did  not  ex- 
actly say  that  I  had  pushed  the  gen  d'arme  back,  but  said  that 
I  had  tried  to  get  away  from  him  when  some  stranger  caught 
him  from  behind  and  threw  him  over;  that  I  had  offered  my 
card  in  the  first  instance,  but  that  he  had  refused  to  take  it, 
and  cursed  and  behaved  as  if  he  were  drunk.  Bummel  cor- 
roborated my  statement,  though  I  am  pretty  sure  that  Bum- 
mel, who  was  of  herculean  strength,  had  knocked  the  gen 
d'arme  over.  "Gentlemen,"  said  the  officer,  "give  me  your 
cards."  This  we  did.  The  young  artist  told  him  that  he  had 
had  no  quarrel  with  anybody,  but  was  taken  along  for  being 


MUNICH  149 

found  near  us.  ' '  Now  go  home, ' '  the  officer  said,  ' '  and  quiet 
your  friends  outside." 

This  officer,  as  we  afterwards  learned,  was  no  less  a  per- 
son than  Prince  Charles,  brother  of  the  King,  and  colonel  of 
the  first  regiment  of  cuirassiers.  We  had  to  walk  through  a 
row  of  troops  before  we  reached  the  crowd,  who  cheered  us 
tumultuously.  I  felt  so  little  excited,  that  as  soon  as  I  had 
found  some  of  my  friends,  we  went  forthwith  to  the  Church 
of  Maria  to  attend  the  midnight-mass,  or  rather  to  be  a  spec- 
tator at  this  midnight  proceeding.  There  was  nearly  as  much 
noise  in  the  church  as  outside.  Next  day  was  Sunday,  and 
I  went  as  usual  to  the  picture  gallery,  and  in  the  evening  to 
our  club-house,  where  we  discussed  the  events  of  the  previous 
evening  as  a  huge  joke. 

What  was  our  astonishment  when,  next  morning,  there 
was  published  a  royal  decree,  and  a  copy  of  it  affixed  to  the 
doors  of  the  University,  that  the  lectures  were  suspended,  and 
that  all  students  should  leave  Munich  within  twenty-four 
hours,  except  such  as  were  permanent  residents  of  the  city. 
A  great  crowd  of  students  had  gathered,  and  it  was  soon 
agreed  that  a  meeting  should  be  held  for  the  purpose  of  tak- 
ing some  action  on  the  matter.  But  the  trouble  was,  where 
to  meet.  The  great  hall,  and  all  the  lecture-rooms  were  closed, 
and  if  we  met  in  some  hall  in  the  city,  the  assembly  was  likely 
to  be  dispersed.  But  there  being  students  present  belonging 
to  the  different  corps,  it  was  decided  that  each  society  should 
send  a  deputation  to  one  of  our  club-houses  to  act  in  the  name 
of  all  the  students.  We  had  a  meeting  in  the  afternoon.  A 
committee  of  three  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  petition  ad- 
dressed to  the  King  himself,  asking  for  a  repeal  of  the  decree, 
or  at  least  for  a  suspension  of  it,  until  the  affair  of  Christmas 
eve  could  be  investigated.  I  was  one  of  the  committee,  and 
the  draft  in  my  handwriting  is  still  amongst  my  papers. 
Whether  it  ever  reached  the  King  I  know  not;  for  on  the 
same  day  the  Burgomaster  of  Munich  and  the  municipal  coun- 
cil obtained  an  audience  with  the  King  and  by  the  strongest 


150  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

kind  of  remonstrances,  almost  amounting  to  threats,  induced 
him  to  modify  the  order  so  that  only  all  non-Bavarians  (for- 
eign students  as  the  order  read)  had  to  leave  Munich. 

Nobody  obeyed  the  order  (although  afterwards  I  wished 
that  I  had),  and  it  was  almost  impossible  for  the  police  to  en- 
force it,  as  they  could  not  readily  ascertain  who  were  foreign- 
ers and  who  not,  as  there  were  a  thousand  hiding-places  in 
the  capital,  which  the  citizens,  if  only  in  their  own  interest, 
(being  all  in  our  favor,)  placed  at  the  students'  disposal. 

ARREST  AND  IMPRISONMENT 

The  next  day,  on  returning  from  dinner,  Miss  Schmitt 
handed  me  a  citation,  which  some  police  officer  had  left  with 
her,  requesting  me  to  appear  at  the  central  police  station  at 
five  o  'clock  in  the  evening.  As  the  students  in  Munich  do  not 
enjoy  any  privileges  of  jurisdiction,  and  were  subject,  like 
the  rest  of  the  people,  to  the  ordinary  tribunals,  I  had  ex- 
pected something  of  the  kind,  and  did  not  feel  alarmed ;  only 
the  unusual  hour  appeared  to  me  somewhat  strange.  I  went 
as  directed,  and,  on  entering,  a  gen  d'arme  asked  my  name, 
and  reported  it  to  an  official,  who  was  sitting  behind  a  table, 
a  clerk  at  his  side.  I  was  requested  to  take  a  seat  before  the 
table,  my  card  was  handed  to  me,  and  I  was  asked  my  name, 
etc.  "Tell  me,"  the  police-judge  said,  "where  you  were  on 
Christmas  eve  and  what  happened  to  you."  I  told  him  my 
story  briefly.  He  wanted  to  know  who  was  with  me.  As  Bum- 
mel  had  been  arrested  and  had  given  his  card,  I  gave  his  name, 
—  he  being,  of  course,  already  known.  Concerning  the  others, 
I  said  I  did  not  know  who  they  were,  that  I  had  drunk  a  great 
deal  (drunkenness  being,  if  not  an  entire  justification,  yet  a 
pretty  good  excuse  under  the  prevailing  law),  and  had  paid 
no  notice  to  who  had  followed  us.  The  deposition  was  read 
to  me,  and  I  had  to  sign  it.  The  judge  rang  a  bell,  and  very 
much  to  my  surprise  a  gen  d'arme  appeared  and  asked  me  to 
go  along  with  him. 


MUNICH  151 

I  was  first  taken  to  the  guard-room  where  I  found  an 
unusual  number  of  soldiers,  some  stretched  on  large  bunks, 
others  walking  about,  and,  as  I  thought,  nearly  all  drunk. 
They  made  an  infernal  noise.  I  discovered  no  officer.  I  was 
left  there,  however,  only  a  few  minutes,  when  I  was  taken  up 
to  one  of  the  very  top  rooms  of  the  large  building,  and  locked 
into  an  apartment  which  was  perfectly  bare  of  any  furniture. 
I  was  left  in  utter  darkness.  I  could  not  explain  this;  it  was 
not  a  cell  but  merely  a  large  garret.  Half  an  hour  later  I 
was  taken  down  again,  placed  in  charge  of  two  gens  d'armes 
with  guns  and  fixed  bayonets,  and  told  to  follow  them.  The 
streets  were  lighted  only  with  lanterns;  the  night  was  quite 
dark.  They  marched  me  to  the  great  Central  Prison  in  the 
Sendlinger  Street,  a  large  monumental  building  called  the 
"Frohnfeste,"  erected  not  very  long  ago  by  the  well-known 
royal  architect,  Von  Klenze.  I  had,  of  course,  often  seen  it 
from  the  outside,  as  it  is  considered  one  of  the  sights  of  Mu- 
nich, and  now  I  was  to  have  the  benefit  of  an  inside  view. 

Indeed,  as  a  prison  it  was  a  very  creditable  building. 
Fine  large  stairs  led  to  the  different  stories,  and  the  cor- 
ridors were  very  wide.  The  middle  of  the  second  story  was 
occupied  by  a  handsome  chapel.  All  the  front  rooms,  used 
for  offices  of  various  kinds,  were  high.  The  cells  themselves, 
which  are  in  the  rear,  are  very  high,  but  probably  of  differ- 
ent size. 

On  entering  I  was  shown  into  the  room  of  the  superin- 
tendent. There  my  watch,  my  purse,  and  my  pocket  knife 
were  taken  from  me.  I  was  measured  and  a  description  of 
my  person  put  down  in  the  big  register.  I  was  then  led  into 
a  cell  in  the  third  story.  It  was  fortunately  a  corner  room, 
some  twelve  feet  high  and  twelve  by  fourteen  feet  in  extent. 
There  was  a  window  to  the  south  and  another  to  the  west. 
They  were  high  up  near  the  ceiling,  were  about  two  feet  long, 
and  only  about  a  foot  wide.  The  wall  was  at  least  two  feet 
thick,  and  there  were  bars  on  the  outer  side.  The  windows 
could  be  opened  only  by  using  a  ladder;  but  by  putting  my 


152  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

table  on  one  of  the  bunks  —  there  were  two  on  the  walls  of 
the  cell  —  I  could  open  the  windows  myself,  which  was  a  great 
relief  to  me.  On  one  of  the  bunks  there  was  a  thin  mattress, 
two  sheets  and  a  blanket.  This  was  my  bed.  Besides  the 
table,  the  only  furniture  was  a  hard  wooden  chair.  A  massive 
iron  stove,  fastened  with  iron  bands  to  the  floor,  and  heated 
from  the  outside,  made  the  cell  warm  enough.  There  were  two 
doors,  one  on  the  outside,  and  an  iron  trellis;  the  inner  door, 
of  heavy  wood  with  iron  knobs,  having  a  small  opening  in  the 
middle  with  a  cover  which  could  be  opened  on  the  outside  by 
the  jailer.  When  the  man  who  had  conducted  me  left  with  his 
lantern,  I  was  in  total  darkness. 

Considering  that  there  was  really  nothing  the  matter, 
and  that  at  most  I  could  only  be  lightly  fined  for  trying  to 
get  away  from  the  gen  d'arme ;  thinking  thus  that  my  impris- 
onment could  last  only  a  few  days,  I  took  the  matter  quite 
coolly,  and  rather  as  a  romantic  incident.  I  lay  down  and 
slept  fairly  well. 

LIFE  IN  A  MUNICH  PRISON 

In  the  morning  one  of  the  jail  servants,  (there  were  two 
in  my  section  of  the  prison,  waiting  on  me  in  turn,)  brought 
me  a  jug  of  beer  holding  about  two  pints,  and  a  loaf  of  good 
bread.  I  was  not  in  the  habit,  except  in  travelling  or  on  ex- 
cursions, of  taking  beer  or  wine  before  dinner.  I  told  him  to 
take  the  beer  away.  He  opened  his  eyes  and  seemed  to  be 
amazed  at  this  order ;  for  he  was  one  of  those  good  and  true 
low-class  Bavarians  who  never  take  coffee  or  tea,  or  water  for 
that  matter,  but  look  upon  a  man  who  will  not  drink  beer  at 
any  time  of  day  or  night,  as  a  madman.  ''Well,"  said  he, 
"that  beer  will  be  put  to  your  credit  on  the  books."  "O, 
no,"  I  replied,  "you  drink  it  yourself  and  nobody  will  be  the 
wiser  about  it."  To  convince  him,  however,  that  I  was  not 
quite  crazy,  I  told  him  that  if  beer  was  furnished  at  dinner  or 
supper  I  would  drink  it. 


MUNICH  153 

I  had  not  to  regret  this  arrangement.  Hough  and  un- 
couth as  both  of  my  attendants  looked,  (I  had  strong  sus- 
picions that  they  were  reformed  convicts,)  they  treated  me 
very  kindly,  after  their  manner. 

I  may  as  well  give  an  account  here  of  my  prison  diet. 
Breakfast,  beer  and  a  loaf  of  bread.  On  fast  days  no  meat, 
but  a  thick  pea-soup  and  mashed  potatoes  for  dinner.  On 
other  days  the  dinner  consisted  of  soup,  rice,  barley,  peas  and 
about  half  a  pound  of  fair  boiled  beef.  Supper,  beer  and  a 
loaf  of  bread.  With  your  own  money  you  could  get,  how- 
ever, excellent  dinners  from  the  warden  of  the  prison,  bet- 
ter cooked,  too,  than  in  any  hotel,  and  cheap,  the  price  of  the 
prison-meal  being  deducted.  But  from  hygienic  as  well  as 
financial  reasons,  I  did  not  often  order  extra  meals. 

The  first  few  days  I  passed  in  this  way,  without  books, 
without  light,  almost;  for  in  these  last  December  days  it  was 
near  nine  o'clock  before  daylight  came  into  my  room,  and  it 
disappeared  at  four  in  the  evening.  What  annoyed  me  most 
at  first  was  the  interruption  of  my  habit  of  smoking.  I  can- 
not say  I  felt  very  comfortable,  yet  I  was  very  far  from  being 
low-spirited.  But  I  vowed  that  if  ever  hereafter  I  should  be 
imprisoned,  I  would  not  be  shut  up  innocently. 

On  the  second  day  of  my  incarceration,  Miss  Von  Schmitt, 
having  somehow  ascertained  where  I  was,  called  at  the  Frohn- 
feste,  and  though  not  admitted  to  see  me,  was  allowed  to  de- 
liver for  me  clothing  and  other  necessaries.  So  I  received  a 
large  package  with  my  dressing  gown,  change  of  linen,  toilet 
articles,  etc. 

After  the  lapse  of  some  three  days,  I  was  ordered  to  ap- 
pear before  the  court,  which  was  held  in  one  of  the  front  rooms 
of  the  prison.  It  was  not  exactly  a  court,  there  being  only 
one  judge  and  a  secretary,  or  actuary,  as  such  officers  are 
called.  The  mode  of  procedure  was  then  in  Bavaria,  and  hi 
nearly  all  other  German  States,  as  follows:  If  a  crime  or  a 
misdemeanor  above  a  minor  offense,  triable  summarily  before 
the  police  or  inferior  courts,  had  been  committed,  and  the 


154  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

criminal  or  supposed  criminal  had  been  arrested,  a  member 
of  some  court  of  superior  jurisdiction  was  deputized  to  con- 
duct the  preliminary  investigation  (inquisition).  He  per- 
formed the  same  office  as  the  judge  of  instruction  in  France. 
During  this  investigation  the  accused  was  closely  confined, 
could  not  see  anybody,  except  with  special  permission,  nor 
could  he  receive  letters  or  send  them  without  their  being  sub- 
mitted to  the  examination  of  the  inquisitor;  neither  could  he 
consult  with  a  lawyer.  After  the  accused  has  been  examined, 
confronted  with  witnesses  if  necessary,  and  after  all  the  wit- 
nesses had  been  heard  and  expert  testimony  been  taken,  when 
needed,  the  depositions  were  submitted  to  the  court  of  ap- 
peal which  had  to  decide  whether  a  case  had  been  made  out 
or  not.  If  proper  cause  appeared  for  regular  prosecution, 
the  record  was  sent  back  and  then  a  more  thorough  investi- 
gation was  made  and  the  case  decieded  by  the  first  court  in 
full  session. 

The  judge  who  had  charge  of  my  case,  was  a  member  of 
the  city  court  of  Munich.  His  name  was  Stecher ;  and  he  was 
by  no  means  an  agreeable  man,  inclined  to  be  impertinent  at 
first,  but  soon  brought  back  to  decency  by  one  who  knew  near- 
ly as  much  law  as  he  did.  I  had  to  go  over  the  story  the  same 
as  before  the  police  court.  What  sort  of  a  man  Councilor 
Stecher  was,  may  be  seen  by  the  following  incident.  The 
cafe  from  which  we  started  that  night  had  as  a  sign  a  large 
gilded  cock  stuck  over  the  door.  I  stated  that  we  had  left  the 
Golden  Cock  (Goldene  Hahn).  "There  is  no  such  beer-house 
in  Munich,"  he  said,  "you  need  not  tell  me  such  a  fable." 
"Yes  there  is,"  I  said,  "and  it  is  in  the  Sendlinger  Strasse 
right  close  by  here."  "O,"  said  he,  "that  is  not  the  Golden 
Cock,  that  is  the  '  Gockel, '  now  I  understand  you. "  "  Gockel ' ' 
is  the  name  for  ' '  Hahn ' '  in  the  Bavarian  and  Suabian  patois. 

After  I  had  finished  my  statement  he  continued  his  ex- 
amination, asking  me  whether  I  was  not  a  member  of  the 
Germania,  whether  we  had  not  sung  revolutionary  songs,  — 
Polish  songs;  whether  we  had  not  cheered  the  Polish  revolu- 


MUNICH  155 

tion.  "Yes,  we  did,"  I  answered,"  "but  while  these  Polish 
songs  might  be  considered  revolutionary  in  Russia,  I  do  not 
see  what  interest  the  Bavarian  government  has  in  our  sym- 
pathy for  Poland."  At  the  end  of  the  examination,  I  asked 
him  to  have  books  sent  me  and  to  be  allowed  the  use  of  pen 
and  ink.  He  said  that  must  be  decided  by  the  court.  From 
these  questions  it  dawned  upon  me  at  once  that  the  govern- 
ment was  trying  to  give  this  trifling  affair  a  political  view; 
and  I  was  at  once  satisfied  that  I  might  have  to  wait  some  con- 
siderable time  for  a  decision. 

But  my  friends  had  been  at  work.  Before  I  got  books, 
Professor  Schelling,  who  stood  very  high  with  the  King, 
got  permission  to  call  upon  me.  I  had  never  seen  him 
before ;  when  I  called  upon  him  he  was  not  in  and  I  had  left 
my  letter  of  introduction  with  his  servant.  He  was  by  no 
means  an  imposing  looking  man.  His  hair  was  very  light 
and  thin,  his  features  not  striking,  his  eyes  light  gray  —  in 
short,  he  looked  just  as  most  learned  German  professors 
usually  look.  When  he  spoke,  however,  one  could  at  once 
see  that  this  ordinary  appearance  covered  a  very  high  intel- 
lect. He  spoke  encouragingly  but  without  committing  him- 
self, as  he  probably  did  not  know  anything  of  the  facts.  He 
wrote,  however,  a  very  noble  letter  to  my  brother,  assuring 
him  that  he  would  take  all  possible  interest  in  my  case;  that 
he  thought  that  I  could  not  be  severely  punished  if  at  all, 
for  the  riot  had  commenced  only  after  I  was  arrested. 
Schelling 's  letter  is  among  my  collection  of  1831. 

After  awhile,  Theodore  sent  me  a  lot  of  books:  Say's 
"National  Economy,"  with  copious  notes  by  Morestadt;  the 
"Penal  Code,"  Stahl's  "Philosophy  of  Law"  and  others; 
and  Miss  Von  Schmitt,  from  the  library  of  the  Odeon,  or 
some  other  social  club,  a  large  collection  of  reviews  and  mag- 
azines. In  the  course  of  time,  I  ordered  all  of  Goethe's 
works,  which  had  appeared  then  for  the  first  time  in  a  com- 
plete edition,  some  thirty  volumes;  all  of  Schiller's  works, 
the  Nibelungen,  the  Bible  and  the  Koran;  but  the  two  lat- 


156  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ter  books  were  kept  back  by  the  judge.  I  should  have  liked 
to  know  the  reason  for  this  exclusion.  He  admitted  the  whole 
series  of  the  "Nemesis,"  a  most  liberal  and  unorthodox  mag- 
azine and  Spinoza's  "Treatise  on  Ethics."  Ignorance  of 
general  literature  is  the  only  explanation.  It  was  also 
strange,  that,  though  I  sent  for  them,  I  was  not  allowed  to 
receive  from  my  books  Virgil,  Horace,  and  Sallust. 

By  and  by  I  got  paper,  ink  and  pens,  and  the  use  of  a 
pen-knife,  which  served  to  cut  my  meat,  for  I  got  neither 
knife  nor  fork,  the  meat  being  cut  in  pieces  and  put  in  the 
soup.  Whenever  I  ordered  a  dinner  or  supper  from  the 
warden  I  got  a  knife  and  fork,  and  wine,  coffee,  or  chocolate, 
when  I  ordered  it.  This  was  done  probably  on  the  theory 
that  a  man  who  calls  for  a  good  dinner  had  no  idea  of  com- 
mitting suicide.  After  two  weeks  more  I  got  candles,  but 
when  the  jailers  made  the  rounds  at  nine  o'clock  every  night, 
examining  the  bars  at  the  windows  by  striking  them  with  a 
big  hammer,  and  also  the  stove,  they  took  the  light  away. 
Some  four  letters  I  received  from  Theodore  and  Miss  Von 
Schmitt,  which  had  reference  only  to  the  sending  or  return- 
ing of  books,  linen,  etc.,  and  I  was  permitted  to  write  to  them 
and  also  to  my  mother  and  brother. 

The  correspondence  was  strictly  examined,  and,  as  I 
found  afterwards,  most  of  it  was  retained  by  the  judge. 

Upon  the  whole  I  passed  my  time  very  well,  studying 
my  law  books  and  making  extracts  from  them  all  morning, 
and  reading  lighter  literature  in  the  evening.  I  now  and 
then  indulged  in  poetical  nights,  wrote  maxims  and  little 
prose  essays.  With  the  exception  of  the  first  few  weeks, 
when  I  had  no  books,  no  writing  material,  and  scarcely  any 
light,  I  do  not  think  I  felt  a  moment  of  ennui.  I  really 
learned  more  law  during  my  confinement  than  I  had  in  Jena 
for  two  years.  My  other  reading,  which  really  was  immense, 
was  also  very  profitable  to  me,  so  what  may  have  been  con- 
sidered at  the  time  a  great  affliction  was  really  a  blessing  in 
disguise.  On  Sundays  and  other  feast-days,  the  inner  wooden 


MUNICH  157 

door  was  opened  in  the  morning  so  that  we  might  hear  the 
intonations  of  the  priest,  and  the  jingling  of  the  bells  when 
mass  was  said  in  the  chapel,  the  doors  of  which  were  likewise 
opened.  That  was  all  the  religious  service  dealt  out  to  the 
prisoners,  but  probably  enough  for  those  who  wanted  it.  We 
had  no  exercise.  I  never  went  further  than  from  my  cell  to 
the  judge's  room,  and  that  only  twice.  I  had  in  all  but  two 
examinations,  the  latter  one  lasting  only  a  few  minutes  and  the 
questions  being  of  no  importance.  Owing  to  lack  of  exer- 
cise, I  also  dispensed  with  the  beer  at  supper,  greatly  to  the 
delight  of  my  jailers.  With  the  exception  of  a  very  slight 
attack  of  quinsy,  I  felt  remarkably  well  and  my  health  had 
become  much  better  than  it  was  during  the  first  month  of 
my  stay  in  Munich.  The  damp  and  foggy  atmosphere  of 
Munich  and  the  sudden  changes  had  made  me  feel  quite 
unwell. 

I  had  one  rather  unexpected  experience.  The  second 
or  third  night  of  my  confinement  I  heard  a  distinct  but  not 
loud  knock  on  the  wall  separating  my  cell  from  the  adjoin- 
ing one.  After  a  while  it  was  repeated,  then  there  were 
three  knocks.  I  listened  attentively,  then  I  heard  very 
plainly  the  words:  "Who  art  thou,  comrade?"  in  a  coarse 
upper-Bavarian  patois.  I  did  not  answer.  Another  knock. 
"Can  you  not  talk,  fellow?"  another  voice  said  in  the  same 
dialect.  I  made  no  answer.  Another  knock.  "Wilt  thou 
not  tell  us  what  thou  hast  done  to  get  locked  up?"  Not 
answering  again,  they  quit  knocking  and  talking.  They 
commenced  again  next  night,  when  I  grew  impatient  and 
speaking  close  to  the  wall,  slowly  but  not  very  loudly,  "Let 
me  alone,  you  ruffians,  or  I  will  tell  the  jailer. ' '  That  stopped 
this  sort  of  communication.  The  walls  separating  the  differ- 
ent cells  were  not  so  thick  as  the  exterior  ones,  but  still  so 
thick  that  one  should  think  it  impossible  that  a  conversation 
could  be  carried  on  through  them.  I  learnt  afterwards  that 
trained  criminals  have  a  kind  of  alphabet  by  which  they  can 
communicate  merely  by  knocks. 


158 

All  the  time  that  I  was  confined  I  did  not  know  what  was 
going  on  outside.  I  did  not  know  that  anybody  but  myself 
had  been  incarcerated,  except  perhaps  Bummel,  who  had 
been  arrested  at  the  Karlsthor.  What  I  learned  after  my 
liberation  astonished  me  greatly.  The  night  I  was  taken 
to  the  Frohnfeste,  and  the  next  night,  about  thirty  other 
young  men  had  also  been  arrested,  most  of  them  members 
of  the  Germania,  but  some  artists  and  some  belonging  to 
other  student  societies,  amongst  them,  Von  Lerchenfeld,  whose 
father  was  then  or  had  been  Bavarian  Ambassador  to  the  Ger- 
man Diet,  and  with  whom  I  had  fought  a  duel  only  a  week  or 
two  before.  We  had  since  made  up,  but  how  he  became  impli- 
cated in  the  Christmas  Eve  affair,  I  do  not  know.  Many  were 
sent  to  the  Frohnfeste,  others  to  the  Red  Tower  (Rother 
Thurm),  another  prison.  The  same  night  a  large  number  of 
troops  patrolled  the  city,  the  soldiers  acting  very  rudely,  and 
some  collisions  happened.  Rumor  had  increased  the  number 
of  the  arrested  ten-fold.  The  royal  order  closing  the  Uni- 
versity and  banishing  all  students  from  the  city  created 
immense  excitement.  The  city  fathers,  as  I  have  already 
observed,  in  an  audience  before  the  king,  expressed  their  dis- 
satisfaction very  plainly.  The  order  was  modified,  but  it 
seems  the  King  was  greatly  alarmed.  Though  there  were 
then  in  Munich  two  regiments  of  infantry,  a  battalion  of  rifle- 
men, a  regiment  of  cuirassiers  and  artillery,  the  citizens' 
militia  was  called  out.  One  whole  battalion  of  them  were 
camped  for  three  days  in  the  inner  courts  of  the  Frohnfeste, 
other  detachments  assisting  in  patrolling  the  streets.  The 
people  became  alarmed.  Sluggish  as  the  Bavarians  are,  still 
the  French  and  Belgian  revolutions,  the  partial  risings  in 
some  of  the  German  states,  as  in  Saxony,  Brunswick,  Hesse- 
Cassel,  Goettingen,  and  at  last  the  Polish  revolution,  had  had 
its  effects.  There  were  thousands  of  students,  artists  and 
employees  of  great  industrial  establisments  in  Munich ;  besides, 
amongst  the  lower  classes  there  are  always  plenty  of  men  ready 
for  mischief.  Curiosity  mainly,  however,  drew  people  into 


MUNICH  159 

the  streets.  There  was  stone-throwing  against  the  patrolling 
troops,  sentry  boxes  were  upturned,  lanterns  smashed.  Ar- 
rested persons  were  rescued.  In  fact,  for  three  nights  in  suc- 
cession there  were  many  collisions  and  the  city  was  in  a  state 
of  great  tumult.  But  there  was  no  plan,  no  understanding 
to  upset  the  government,  no  cause  to  change  the  ministry,  and 
in  fact  no  one  dreamt  of  it. 

Bavaria  was  considered  in  a  measure  a  liberal  state.  It 
had  a  constitution,  imperfect,  but  still,  better  than  none.  The 
King  had  some  queer  notions  in  his  head ;  he  had  written  much 
bad  poetry  and  had  become  the  laughing  stock  of  the  nation. 
But  he  had  always  been  a  good  German,  had  as  Crown  Prince 
been  openly  opposed  to  the  Napoleonic  rule,  and  had,  there- 
fore, fallen  under  Napoleon 's  ban.  In  the  War  of  Liberation, 
as  soon  as  his  father  Max  had  joined  the  allies,  he  had  fought 
against  the  French  at  Brienne,  Arcis-sur-Aube,  Bar-sur-Aube. 
He  was  a  great  admirer  of  German  liberty,  and  had  made  a 
pilgrimage  to  Weimar  to  show  his  devotion  to  Goethe.  In 
Munich  he  was  very  popular.  He  had  moved  the  University 
from  Landshut  to  Munich.  He  had  spent  millions  of  his 
civil  list  to  beautify  the  city.  He  was  the  patron  of  all  the 
fine  arts,  and  had  called  eminent  men  from  all  parts  of  Ger- 
many to  Munich  as  professors  in  the  University.  Painting, 
sculpture,  architecture,  found  in  him  an  enthusiastic  sup- 
porter. Even  the  press  was  freer  at  that  time  in  Bavaria  than 
in  any  other  German  State.  Incredible  as  it  is,  it  is  well  authen- 
ticated that  he  lost  his  head  on  this  occasion  so  completely 
that  preparations  were  made  the  day  after  the  arrests  had 
taken  place  for  a  flight  of  the  royal  family.  Traveling  car- 
riages had  been  drawn  out  and  horses  made  ready.  Some 
squadrons  of  cuirassiers  were  in  a  yard  to  accompany  the  fugi- 
tives. When  the  legislature  met  some  time  later,  the  min- 
isters were  called  to  account  by  the  opposition  and  many  of 
the  facts  stated  were  drawn  out.  In  the  heated  debate  it 
appeared  clearly  that  all  the  commotion  had  been  produced 
by  the  absurd  measures  of  the  government.  It  was  proved 


160  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

that  the  soldiers  had  received  double  pay,  had  been  made 
drunk,  that  nearly  all  the  bloody  conflicts  during  these  three 
nights  had  been  provoked  by  the  soldateska.  That  a  camarilla 
of  Jesuits  (Catholic  and  Protestant)  had  impressed  the  King 
with  the  idea  that  a  great  conspiracy  was  at  the  bottom  of 
these  tumults.  They  sought  this  opportunity  of  driving  the 
King  from  his  hitherto  more  liberal  course  of  government. 
The  noise  of  half  a  dozen  rattles  and  the  beating  of  toy  drums 
by  a  few  students  on  Christmas  evening  had  grown  up  into  a 
certain  symptom  of  revolution.  The  result  of  the  proceedings 
against  us  plainly  showed  that  it  was  the  government  that 
caused  the  December  Commotion  (the  December  Unruhen), 
as  they  are  called  in  the  history  of  the  times. 

RELEASE 

Precisely  four  months  after  my  imprisonment,  one  of  my 
attendants  opened  the  door  at  an  unusual  hour,  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  and  told  me  to  come  to  the  audience-room.  His 
ugly,  uncouth  face  was  smiling  all  over,  and  he  seemed  much 
excited,  as  if  something  joyful  had  happened  to  him.  ' '  What 
is  the  matter?"  I  asked  him.  "Be  quiet,  be  quiet,"  he  said, 
"you  will  hear  good  news."  As  I  said,  both  my  jailers, 
though  in  a  rough  way,  had  shown  me  some  attention,  but  now 
I  saw  that  I  had  touched  somehow  or  other  the  heart  of  this 
old,  hardened  fellow.  He  smiled  and  laughed  all  the  way  to 
the  room,  where  I  found  Councilor  Stecher  sitting  behind  his 
table  with  a  rather  sour  look.  He  informed  me  that  the 
court  of  appeal  at  Landshut  had  passed  upon  the  case,  and 
he  read  me  the  interlocutory  order  sent  down  by  that  court, 
the  substance  of  which  was  that  upon  due  investigation  the 
court  had  decided  that  there  was  no  cause  for  a  criminal  pros- 
ecution against  Gustave  Koerner  and  consorts  accused  of  hav- 
ing forcibly  resisted  the  armed  forces  of  the  king;  that  if 
there  was  any  offense  committed  it  was  for  the  police  court  to 
try  it. 


MUNICH  161 

This  proceeding  is  similar  to  the  action  of  the  grand  jury 
when  they  find  no  bill.  I  was,  of  course,  somewhat  affected, 
but  I  showed  not  the  slightest  emotion.  I  did  not  want  to 
appear  to  exult  under  the  decision,  which  was  but  strict  jus- 
tice, and  did  not  after  all  give  me  any  compensation  for  what 
I  had  unrighteously  suffered.  I  merely  remarked  that  there 
had  been  much  ado  about  nothing.  He  informed  me,  however, 
that  probably  I  would  receive  an  order  from  the  police  court 
not  to  leave  Munich  without  express  permission.  The  final 
order  and  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  would  be  sent  down 
hereafter. 

When  I  was  about  to  return  to  my  cell  to  get  ready  to 
leave,  he  remarked:  "There  are  some  letters  on  the  shelf  — 
from  you  and  to  you  —  which  have  been  retained  as  improper. 
You  may  take  them  now. ' '  The  shelf  was  so  high  that  I  could 
not  reach  the  package  without  a  little  step-ladder  which  stood 
in  the  corner  of  the  room.  I  thought  it  below  my  dignity  to 
take  them  down  that  way.  I  said  the  one  who  put  them  up 
there  can  hand  them  down  to  me  —  otherwise  they  may  stay 
where  they  are.  He  looked  daggers  at  me.  But  his  secretary 
did  what  I  requested.  So  I  got  a  bundle  of  letters  from  home, 
from  Miss  Schmitt,  and  from  Theodore  Engelmann.  When 
I  left  my  cell  my  two  attendants  were  there,  expressing  their 
great  joy  at  my  delivery,  which  was  the  more  sincere  as  they 
got  from  me  every  day  the  two  mugs  of  beer  which  I  refused 
to  take,  and  which  they  now  would  miss. 

The  first  thing  I  did  was  to  write  home,  while  I  was  yet 
in  my  cell.  Next  I  went  to  the  club-house,  where  I  was 
received  with  tremendous  cheers.  Some  of  my  fellow-members 
had,  on  giving  bail,  been  liberated  on  the  first  of  March 
through  the  influence  of  members  of  the  Chambers  from  their 
districts. 

A  few  others  had  been  discharged  a  few  days  before  I  was. 
The  charter  of  the  Germania  had  been  repealed  by  the  Uni- 
versity authorities  soon  after  my  arrest.  But  the  organiza- 
tion was  kept  up,  nevertheless.  The  society  had  even  sent 


162  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

delegates,  Theodore  Engelmann  and  Hoeninghaus,  to  the 
Burschenschaft  Tag  (General  Council)  at  Dresden,  which  was 
held  in  March  or  early  in  April.  We  all  had  become  far  more 
revolutionary  than  we  ever  were  before.  Most  of  my  friends 
had  become  ill  in  prison,  and  all  of  them  seemed  to  have  taken 
it  harder  than  I  did.  I  came  out  in  perfect  health  and  much 
improved  financially,  having  had  no  personal  expenses  worth 
mentioning  for  months.  I  had  greatly  improved  my  knowl- 
edge of  the  law,  so  that  I  concluded  to  hear  no  more  lectures 
on  law  in  Munich,  but  to  study  privately.  That  also  saved 
money. 

SALZBURG  AND  THE  BAVARIAN  TYROL 

There  were  short  vacations  in  June,  when  some  of  my 
particular  friends  set  out  on  a  journey  to  Salzburg  and  the 
Bavarian  Tyrol.  I  concluded  to  be  one  of  the  party.  I  got 
permission  to  leave  Munich  for  that  purpose  without  trouble, 
and  so  we  traveled  the  same  route  I  had  taken  two  years 
before.  There  being  four  or  five  of  us,  all  gay  fellows,  we  had 
a  great  time.  We  traveled  leisurely  and  visited  the  Salzburg 
Rhigi,  the  Gaisberg.  We  went  up  in  the  afternoon  and  got 
there  before  dark.  Near  the  top  there  was  the  hut  of  a  "  Sen- 
nerin. ' '  She  was  no  ideal  milkmaid,  but  a  stout,  robust,  mid- 
dle-aged woman.  We  got  nothing  to  eat  but  some  new  cheese, 
very  insipid,  and  only  some  buttermilk  to  drink.  We  had 
taken  some  rolls  along,  and  everyone  had  his  flask  of  cognac. 
A  sort  of  small  log-house  filled  with  hay  was  our  sleeping 
apartment.  It  was  a  bad  enough  dormitory.  The  hay  was 
pretty  dry  and  the  hay  dust  got  into  our  noses.  We  did  not 
sleep  much,  for  we  told  stories,  and  had  to  get  up  before  sun- 
rise. But  we  were  amply  rewarded  for  our  toil.  The  pan- 
orama is  delightful.  Seven  lakes  are  visible,  among  them  the 
large  Chiemsee.  The  whole  range  of  the  Tyrolese  and  Salz- 
burg Alps  extended  before  your  eyes.  We  were  intoxicated 
with  the  beauty  of  the  view.  From  Salzburg,  visiting  the 
Gollinger  waterfall,  we  went  to  romantic  Berchtesgaden,  the 
Koenigsee  with  its  manifold  charms,  and  then  returned  to 


MUNICH  163 

Munich  again  by  Rosenheim.     This  entire  tour  we  made  on 
foot. 

How  little  we  were  cowed  by  the  persecution  we  had 
undergone  was  proved  by  the  fact  that  on  the  eighteenth  of 
June,  the  anniversary  of  Waterloo,  we  gave  a  banquet  at  our 
club-house  to  Baron  von  Closen  and  to  Messrs.  Schueler  and 
Cullman  and  to  other  members  of  the  Bavarian  legislature, 
which  was  then  in  session.  They  had  severely  denounced  the 
measures  of  the  government  regarding  the  Karlsthor  affair 
and  the  edict  of  the  King  restricting  the  liberty  of  the  press, 
which  he  had  issued  under  fear  of  what  he  called  a  rebellion. 
By  a  large  vote,  this  edict  was  declared  unconstitutional  by  the 
Chamber,  and  the  King  had  naturally  to  dismiss  his  prime 
minister,  Von  Schenk,  to  save  him  from  impeachment.  At 
this  banquet  we  toasted  the  Liberal  members;  they  replied  in 
patriotic  speeches.  Some  of  us  spoke  pretty  freely  and  the 
struggle  of  the  Poles  was  by  nearly  all  of  us  mentioned  with 
enthusiastic  sympathy.  But  the  government  did  not  choose  to 
call  us  to  account,  though  we  existed  now  as  a  society  in  defi- 
ance of  the  authorities. 

DUELS    IN    MUNICH 

Nothing  further  of  particular  interest  happened  during 
the  summer.  Some  incidents,  however,  I  will  mention.  My 
friend  Prosper  had  got  into  difficulties  with  one  of  the  officers 
of  the  infantry  regiment  stationed  at  Munich.  A  challenge 
passed,  and,  as  was  usual  with"  officers,  pistols  were  selected. 
This  was  a  serious  business,  and  I  was  sorry  that  Prosper  per- 
sisted in  having  me  as  his  second,  probably  because  he  had 
learned  that  I  had  acted  in  that  capacity  in  such  a  duel  before. 
On  the  morning  of  the  day  that  we  were  to  go  out  to  the  forest 
of  Schleissheim,  we  got  into  a  coach  which  was,  according  to 
arrangement,  to  pass  by  the  officer's  residence  in  one  of  the 
most  fashionable  quarters  of  the  city,  where  we  would  find 
him  in  a  carriage  with  a  second  and  a  physician,  and  whence 
we  were  to  drive  out  together.  We  had  an  open  carriage  and 


164  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

we  came  near  the  house  designated.  We  saw  no  carriage  but 
a  gen  d'arme  pacing  up  and  down  the  sidewalk  just  before  a 
house  which  was  evidently  the  one  in  which  the  officer  resided. 
We  immediately  told  the  driver  to  stop.  I  got  out  to  recon- 
noitre. I  went  quietly  to  the  house.  Seeing  no  impediment, 
I  went  through  the  gate  that  led  to  the  lawn  before  the  house, 
went  up  to  the  door  and  rang  the  bell.  Out  came  a  servant. 
I  asked  for  the  officer.  "He  cannot  be  seen,"  said  the  serv- 
ant, ' '  he  has  just  received  orders  from  his  colonel  not  to  leave 
the  house."  In  fact  he  had  been  arrested  with  privilege  to 
stay  in  until  he  was  wanted.  Of  course  I  knew  what  that 
meant ;  we  hastened  back  and  beat  a  very  quick  retreat.  We 
had  no  doubt  that  the  gen  d'arme  had  orders  to  arrest  our 
carriage  and  its  occupants ;  but  as  I  came  alone  he  must  have 
thought  that  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  matter  and  so  let 
me  pass.  There  is  no  doubt  that  someone  had  notified  the 
colonel  of  what  was  going  on.  It  must  have  come  from  the 
officer  or  his  friends,  for,  except  Prosper,  myself  and  one 
other,  nobody  knew  of  the  intended  duel.  How  the  matter 
was  finally  settled  I  do  not  know,  for  it  happened  shortly 
before  I  left  Munich  for  good.  Another  matter  turned  out 
somewhat  serious  for  me. 

Quite  unexpectedly  I  had  to  fight  a  duel  with  small  swords 
with  a  gentleman  who  was  a  practicing  lawyer  and  who  had 
been  a  member  of  the  Isaria.  My  adversary  was  very  tall, 
extraordinarily  so,  and  took  full  advantage  of  his  size.  I  was 
more  skilful  and  remained  on  the  defensive,  but  towards  the 
end  I  grew  impatient,  attacked  him,  touched  him  slightly,  but 
at  the  same  time  received  a  thrust  in  the  right  breast.  Fortu- 
nately it  was  a  triangular  blade,  and  glanced  off  on  one  rib, 
creating  only  a  flesh  wound,  which  ended  the  matter.  I  lost 
considerable  blood,  but  otherwise  the  wound  had  no  effect  except 
that  my  right  arm  was  lame  for  some  time,  and  I  had  to  carry 
it  for  a  week  or  so  in  a  sling.  I  have  mentioned  this  duel 
particularly,  because  it  came  very  near  being  fatal  to  me,  and 
also  because  some  ten  or  twelve  years  afterwards  I  got  a  letter 


MUNICH  165 

from  my  tall  friend  in  which  he  reminded  me  of  our  short 
acquaintance  and  asked  me  to  do  him  a  favor.  He  had,  he 
wrote,  abandoned  the  profession  of  law,  had  attended  an  agri- 
cultural college,  and  was  a  superintendent  of  a  large  landed 
estate  in  Bavaria.  He  had  an  idea  of  emigrating  to  the  United 
States  and  of  buying  a  large  quantity  of  government  land. 
He  wished  me  to  give  him  some  advice.  His  letter  was  very 
friendly  and  respectful.  I  complied  with  his  request. 

In  August,  I  was  to  leave  Munich  for  good.  Applying 
for  permission,  I  was  informed  that  I  could  not  leave  unless 
I  furnished  bail  for  fifty  florins  (twenty  dollars) ,  and  would 
submit  to  any  judgment  that  the  police  court  might  render 
against  me.  Miss  Von  Schmitt  got  one  of  her  friends  (being 
a  woman,  she  could  not  do  so  herself)  to  go  my  bail. 

Anticipating,  I  will  state  how  this  police  court  trial  ended. 
It  must  be  recollected  that  in  April,  1831,  the  matter  was 
referred  to  the  police  court.  In  the  winter  of  1832  that  court 
found  me  guilty  of  having  disturbed  the  peace  and  sentenced 
me  to  four  weeks'  light  confinement.  The  senate  of  Frank- 
fort, being  the  executive  of  that  free  city,  was  requested  by 
the  police  court  either  to  extradite  me  or  to  carry  out  the 
judgment  by  imprisoning  me  in  Frankfort.  But  I  had  by  that 
time  passed  my  state-examination,  had  been  admitted  to  the 
bar,  and  had  been  sworn  in  as  a  citizen.  The  senate  declined 
the  request,  as  I  learned  from  the  chancellor  of  the  senate, 
very  properly  representing  to  the  Munich  tribunal  that  there 
could  be  no  question  of  extradition  in  a  bagatelle  case  like 
this ;  that,  while  to  imprison  a  student  for  a  few  weeks  was  a 
small  affair,  which  did  by  no  means  injure  him,  it  was  quite  a 
different  thing  to  imprison  a  citizen  of  Frankfort,  a  doctor 
of  law  and  practicing  attorney.  The  senate  indirectly  warned 
me  not  to  touch  Bavarian  soil,  as  I  surely  would  be  arrested. 
What  became  of  the  bail,  I  never  learned ;  at  any  rate,  I  was 
never  called  upon  to  pay  anything. 


166  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

FAREWELL  TO  MUNICH 

The  Germania  concluded  to  give  a  formal  valedictory 
"comitat,"  as  it  is  called  in  student  language.  This  is  not 
an  uncommon  proceeding  in  the  smaller  Universities;  but  it 
had  never  been  known  in  Munich.  On  the  day  of  leaving,  — 
after  having  bid  adieu  to  Miss  Von  Schmitt,  who  had  acted  as 
a  mother  towards  me,  and  to  some  other  friends  who  were  not 
students,  including  also  some  very  pretty  female  waiters  at 
the  club-house  and  other  places  of  resort,  —  our  society  assem- 
bled at  the  Rosengarten.  A  dozen  students  or  so,  acting  as 
marshals,  with  scarfs,  leather  breeches  and  high  boots,  were  on 
horseback.  Some  rode  in  front  of  the  carriage,  which  should 
have  been  drawn  by  four  horses.  But  there  were  only  two 
horses  before  our  carriage,  and  there  was  no  driver  on  the 
box.  The  driver,  dressed  like  a  jockey,  rode  the  saddle  horse 
and  guided  the  off  horse.  The  Russian  Ambassador  had  just 
introduced  this  fashion,  and  in  mockery  of  what  was  con- 
sidered by  the  people  in  Munich  as  eccentric,  this  mode  was 
adopted  by  us  and  excited  much  merriment.  I  was  seated  in 
this  carriage,  and  also  Bummel,  whom  I  had  invited  to  ride 
with  me.  Others  of  the  marshals  rode  on  either  side  of  us. 
Some  five  or  six  carriages  containing  members  of  the  Germania 
followed.  Other  carriages  were  filled  by  artists  and  friends 
of  our  society.  Two  or  three  of  the  cadets  of  the  Cuirassier 
Guards,  who  had  brothers  in  our  society,  in  full  uniform, 
closed  the  procession.  We  went  through  some  of  the  fashion- 
able streets  leading  to  the  town  of  Dachau,  twelve  miles  from 
Munich,  where  the  procession  was  to  stop.  The  unusual  sight 
attracted  great  crowds.  It  was  considered  as  a  defiance  of 
the  authorities  who  had  so  unjustly  persecuted  us.  By  a  prev- 
ious arrangement,  the  cavalcade  passed  the  house  where  Char- 
lotta  von  Hagen  lived.  It  was  halted,  and  she  appeared  at 
the  window  waving  us  an  adieu  with  her  handkerchief.  I 
reciprocated  by  kissing  my  fingers  and  waving  my  hand  to- 
ward her.  I  thought  she  looked  very  beautiful  then.  The  stu- 
dents all  lifted  their  caps  to  her,  and  some  even  cheered  her. 


MUNICH  167 

Arrived  at  Dachau,  we  had  a  lively  time.  It  so  happened 
that  there  was  a  ball  that  evening  in  the  place  and  we  were 
invited  to  attend  it.  So  most  of  my  friends  stayed  there  over 
night,  and  it  was  not  until  morning  that  I  went  to  bed  after 
a  rather  exciting  and  fatiguing  day.  It  was  a  very  warm 
night.  I  left  the  window  open  at  my  bed  but  shut  the  door. 
But  after  I  had  fallen  asleep,  another  student  came  in,  who 
occupied  the  other  bed  in  the  room  and  left  the  door  open.  In 
the  morning  I  awakened  with  excruciating  pains  in  my  left 
side.  I  could  not  move,  had  to  call  in  a  doctor,  and  so  was 
detained  in  Dachau  some  five  days.  But  I  had  plenty  of  vis- 
itors from  Munich  who  kept  up  my  spirits. 

HOMEWARD  BOUND.      THE  SUABIAN  ALP 

As  soon  as  I  could  be  lifted  into  the  carriage  that  went 
from  Munich  to  Augsburg,  I  left,  accompanied  by  my  jovial 
and  spirited  friend  Gutienne,  who  was  going  home  to  Saarlouis 
by  way  of  Frankfort.  We  had  a  very  handsome  woman  as  a 
fellow-passenger,  a  woman  who  had  seen  much  of  the  world. 
"We  took  her  to  be  an  actress,  though  she  was  very  reticent  as 
to  her  status.  She  afforded  us  great  entertainment.  I  made 
the  coach  stop  a  short  time  at  Friedberg,  paying  a  flying  visit 
to  my  charming  friend,  Charlotte  von  Haus,  whose  husband 
was  the  district  physician  residing  at  that  place.  At  Augs- 
burg we  found  some  of  our  old  Jena  friends :  Edwin  Poeshell, 
Reichenbach,  Conradi,  from  Munich,  who  made  our  stay  there 
very  pleasant.  We  saw  all  there  was  to  be  seen  in  that  old, 
once  so  magnificent  city,  and  made  some  very  interesting 
excursions  into  the  neighborhood. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  we  took  the  stage  at  Ulm  on  the 
Danube,  which  is  also  a  place  worth  seeing.  I  think  the  dome 
at  Ulm  is  one  of  the  very  finest  cathedrals  in  the  world.  It  is 
416  feet  long,  166  feet  wide  and  144  feet  high.  The  tower, 
not  then  finished,  is  340  feet  high.  It  has  five  portals.  But 
it  is  not  so  much  the  size,  although  that  is  equal  to  almost  any 
cathedral  in  Europe,  but  the  exquisite  workmanship,  which 


168  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

makes  it  so  preeminent  a  monument  of  Gothic  architecture. 
From  there  we  made  a  detour  to  Langenau,  a  small  town  north 
of  the  Danube,  to  visit  Dietrich,  an  old  friend  from  Jena,  who 
was  then  at  home,  and  who  had  invited  me,  when  he  left 
Jena,  to  his  house.  His  father,  a  venerable  man,  was  the 
pastor,  and  we  spent  a  day  with  that  family,  which  reminded 
me  very  much  of  the  Vicar  of  Wakefield  's  family  circle. 

From  there  we  went  in  a  light  carriage  through  the 
Suabian  Alp,  having  on  our  right  the  ruins  of  Staufeneck 
and  of  the  ancient  castle  of  Hohenstaufen,  the  original  seat 
of  the  noble,  imperial  race  of  the  Hohenstaufens.  In  Goep- 
pingen  we  were  most  royally  received  by  that  noble  fellow- 
student  of  ours,  Pistorius,  who  had  three  beautiful  sisters. 
From  Goeppingen  we  made  an  excursion  to  Boll,  a  famous 
watering  place,  where  I  took  a  bath.  We  had  a  splendid  din- 
ner with  our  Goeppingen  friends  there,  and  on  our  return 
to  that  place  we  left  the  same  night  for  Tuebingen.  We 
reached  the  Neckar  and  Nuertingen,  where  we  took  another 
bath  in  the  river.  In  Tuebingen  we  remained  five  days.  We 
had  a  glorious  time  there.  Gutienne  could  not  be  induced  to 
leave  with  me.  From  Tuebingen  we  visited  the  ancient  impe- 
rial city  of  Reutlingen  and  the  most  romantic  castle  of  Lich- 
tenstein,  perched  on  a  perpendicular  rock,  at  the  foot  of  which 
rushes  a  small  but  clear  river.  The  Lichtenstein  is  2,800  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Wilhelm  Hauff,  one  of  the  best 
German  novelists,  has  made  the  place  famous  everywhere  by 
his  beautiful  romance, ' '  Der  Lichtenstein. ' '  We  saw  Uhland  's 
house  and  garden  at  Tuebingen,  but  did  not  see  the  noble  and 
charming  poet  whose  songs  had  so  delighted  me  when  I  was 
a  mere  boy  and  most  of  which  I  knew  almost  by  heart. 

In  Tuebingen,  I  met  Brunk  on  his  way  home  to  Rhenish 
Bavaria.  Brunk  had  been  a  member  of  the  Germania  in 
Munich  and  had  also  been  imprisoned  for  some  time  on  account 
of  the  December  tumult.  He  was  a  jovial  companion  and  he 
agreed  to  accompany  me  to  Heidelberg,  provided  I  would  go 
by  way  of  Stuttgart.  I  was  very  willing  to  see  that  noble 


MUNICH  169 

old  place  and  we  started  on  foot  to  Stuttgart,  my  lameness 
having  left  me.  When  I  saw  the  old  Gothic  Stiftskirche,  tears 
came  into  my  eyes.  A  large,  well  executed  aquarell  repre- 
sentation of  it  had  always  hung  in  our  sitting-room.  The 
sight  of  the  original  called  back  my  earliest  childhood.  "We, 
of  course,  saw  the  new  and  old  Schloss,  the  fine  Schloss-park 
and  Dannecker's  atelier.  Leaving  Stuttgart,  we  turned  next 
toward  the  Black  Forest,  reached  Freudenstadt  at  the  foot  of 
the  celebrated  Kniebis  Pass,  but  for  some  reason  which  I  do 
not  now  recollect  we  changed  our  minds  and  turned  north- 
wards into  the  beautiful  and  romantic  valley  of  the  Murg. 
We  stayed  one  night  and  one  day  at  lovely  Gernsbach,  and 
then  turned  off  to  Baden-Baden.  It  was  a  splendid  trip.  We 
took  some  baths,  visiting  the  old  Schloss;  left  Baden  August 
12,  and  by  Carlsruhe  and  Heidelberg,  finally  reached  Frank- 
fort. 

I  was  received  with  open  arms  by  my  mother,  brother 
and  sisters  after  an  absence  of  two  years  and  my  adventure 
at  Munich.  Their  love  for  me  was  unbounded  and  unceasing. 
I  thought  many  times  I  hardly  deserved  it  in  the  degree  they 
bestowed  it. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Heidelberg 

There  had  been  a  great  change  in  Frankfort  since  my 
last  visit  in  the  fall  of  1829.  The  July  Revolution  in  France, 
the  revolutions  in  Poland,  Belgium,  and  in  some  of  the  Ger- 
man States,  had  worked  on  the  minds  of  the  people  of  that  city 
very  strongly.  The  sympathy  with  the  Poles  in  their  heroic 
struggle  against  the  Russian  power  had  been  great.  Warsaw 
had  now  fallen;  but  that  only  increased  the  hatred  toward 
the  Czar  and  toward  the  King  of  Prussia,  who  was  looked 
upon  as  the  accomplice  and  tool  of  the  Czar.  In  France  a 
strong  opposition  had  arisen  against  Louis  Philippe  on  account 
of  his  pusillanimity  and  his  failure  to  take  up  the  cause  of 
Poland.  The  debates  in  the  French  legislature  became  very 
heated,  and  Republicanism  became  the  order  of  the  day 
amongst  the  young.  Some  states  in  Italy  had  risen  against 
their  princes,  who  were  supported  by  Austria.  The  debates  in 
the  English  Parliament  on  the  Reform  Bill  attracted  great 
interest.  Democratic  clubs  had  been  formed  even  in  Frank- 
fort. Liberal  papers  were  started,  speaking  a  language  hith- 
erto unknown  in  Germany.  Under  the  influence  of  the  Bundes- 
tag, the  editors  of  these  papers  were  repeatedly  prosecuted 
and  heavily  fined.  But  the  fines  were  readily  paid.  The  Lib- 
eral party  in  Frankfort  counted  hundreds  of  men  in  easy 
circumstances.  In  fact,  some  of  the  party  were  men  of  large 
fortunes.  The  persons  condemned  were  all  talented  young 
men  of  high  character.  They  were  looked  upon  as  martyrs. 
Large  crowds  collected  about  the  prison,  which,  for  political 
offenses,  was  in  the  main  guard-house,  at  the  west  end  of  the 
Zeil.  The  guards  were  insulted.  One  night  the  house  of  one 


HEIDELBERG  171 

of  the  older  senators,  Mr.  Von  Guita,  who  was  suspected  of 
being  the  mouthpiece  of  the  Austrian  President  of  the  Diet, 
was  stoned  by  the  populace  and  all  the  windows  broken.  The 
citizen  guard  was  called  out  to  suppress  the  mob.  The  whole 
town  was  alarmed.  There  were,  of  course,  many  collisions, 
and  it  took  hours  before  the  tumult  was  quelled. 

Not  long  after  this,  at  the  time  of  the  vintage,  when  in 
the  evening  thousands  of  people  leave  town  and  resort  to  the 
many  pleasure-gardens  around  the  city,  at  a  time  when, 
heretofore,  the  gates  had  been  left  open  until  a  late  hour  at 
night,  the  police  imprudently  ordered  the  gates  to  be  closed 
at  nine  o'clock.  Many  had  not  even  heard  of  the  order,  and 
when,  about  ten  o'clock,  several  hundred  people,  mostly  young 
clerks,  mechanics  and  tradesmen  of  all  sorts,  on  their  return 
from  these  resorts,  found  the  gates  closed,  there  was  a  great 
outcry.  It  was  demanded  that  the  gate  should  be  opened.  It 
was  the  gate  of  All  Saints,  leading  eastward.  The  demand 
was  not  heeded.  Then  stones  were  thrown  from  the  outside. 
In  the  meantime,  an  equally  clamorous  crowd  had  collected 
on  the  inside  on  All  Saints  Street.  Finally  shots  were  fired, 
one  soldier  killed  outright,  several  wounded  and  the  gate  was 
forced.  In  the  meantime,  a  general  alarm  had  been  sounded. 
Detachments  of  soldiers  went  to  the  relief  of  the  guard.  The 
citizen  soldiers,  some  very  reluctantly,  also  turned  out.  Rumor 
had  exaggerated  the  affair.  It  was  reported  in  the  city  that 
a  bloody  fight  was  going  on  in  All  Saints  Street.  A  great 
many  people  armed  themselves  to  oppose  the  soldiers.  Crowds 
gathered  in  every  part  of  the  city.  A  rush  was  made  on  the 
prisons  to  liberate  the  political  prisoners. 

It  was  truly  a  tumultuous  night.  There  was  nothing  po- 
litical in  the  commotion.  The  stupid  order  of  the  police  had 
brought  it  about.  The  men  that  did  the  shooting  were  young 
mechanics.  On  vintage  day,  people  generally  carry  pistols 
and  guns  and  fireworks  to  make  a  noise  outside  of  the  city, 
an  immemorial  custom  in  Frankfort  during  the  three  vintage 
evenings.  Still  the  disturbance  would  not  have  occurred  had 


172  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

it  not  been  for  the  universal  excitement  all  over  the  western 
and  southern  parts  of  Germany  and  the  strong  desire  to  op- 
pose the  existing  illiberal  governments,  and,  if  possible,  to 
bring  about  a  change  even  by  a  revolution. 

While  I  was  thus  staying  in  Frankfort,  I  received  in- 
structions from  the  Munich  Burschenschaft  to  represent  them 
at  a  universal  council  of  the  society  to  be  held  at  Frankfort 
at  the  invitation  of  Jena,  the  leading  Burschenschaft  of  that 
year.  It  was  one  of  the  largest  councils  ever  held.  Deputies 
appeared  from  Leipsic,  Jena,  Marburg,  Giessen,  Munich,  Er- 
langen,  Wuerzburg,  Tuebingen,  Kiel,  and  Breslau.  The  Ar- 
minia  had  a  secessionist  organization  and  was  not  recognized 
as  a  Burschenschaft.  The  word  "preparation"  was  stricken 
out  of  the  principal  article  of  the  old  constitution  which  de- 
fined the  objects,  so  that  it  now  read  as  follows:  "The  Uni- 
versal German  Burschenschaft  strives  to  bring  about  a  free 
and  justly  organized  government,  subsisting  in  the  unity  of 
the  people,  by  means  of  moral,  intellectual  and  physical  cul- 
ture at  the  universities."  Other  resolutions  requested  all  mem- 
bers to  join  the  revolutions  which  had  for  their  object  the  lib- 
erty and  unity  of  the  Fatherland. 

Although  I  had  gone  through  the  usual  academic  trien- 
nium  generally  considered  sufficient  for  entrance  to  any  learn- 
ed profession,  I  did  not  feel  sure  that  I  would  be  prepared  to 
take  the  degree  of  doctor  of  law,  which  was  necessary  for 
practicing  law  in  Frankfort.  Like  other  strange  survivals  of 
ancient  customs  in  the  old  city,  no  one  could  practice  one  of 
the  liberal  professions,  without  being  either  a  doctor  of  law, 
of  medicine,  or  of  philosophy.  That  was  right  enough  hun- 
dreds of  years  ago,  when  the  respective  State  governments 
had  not  established  examining  boards  or  commissions  before 
which  every  applicant  to  a  profession  had  to  appear  to  prove 
his  qualification.  But,  as  a  rule,  these  boards  had  now  been 
instituted  everywhere,  even  in  Frankfort ;  so  that  being  a  doc- 
tor counted  for  nothing,  —  if  the  candidate  could  not  satisfy 
the  board,  which  in  Frankfort  consisted  of  two  judges  of  the 


HEIDELBERG  173 

city  courts  and  two  of  the  Appellate  Court.  This  same  anom- 
alous rule  prevailed  also  in  the  other  free  cities,  Hamburg, 
Luebeck  and  Bremen.  It  was  a  hardship,  inasmuch  as  the 
expense  connected  with  graduation  was  considerable,  and  in 
Heidelberg,  for  instance,  amounted  to  about  $120. 

It  was  therefore  agreed  that  I  should  go  to  Heidelberg. 
A  diploma  from  that  University  was  considered  in  Frankfort, 
and  in  other  places  also,  as  of  more  value  than  one  from  any 
other  University,  except  perhaps  Goettingen  and  Berlin;  the 
law  faculty  there  having  the  highest  reputation. 

THE  HEIDELBERG  BURSCHENSCHAFT 

To  my  beloved  Heidelberg,  accordingly,  I  went,  in  Oc- 
tober, 1831.  The  three  years'  interdict  having  come  to  an 
end,  a  great  many  members  of  the  Burschenschaft  who  had 
been  at  other  Universities,  now  found  themselves  together. 
From  Bonn  there  came  at  least  a  dozen,  nearly  as  many  from 
Goettingen,  and  some  from  Munich,  Wuerzburg,  Giessen,  and 
Tuebingen.  They  had  all  been  full  members,  and  most  of 
them  were  in  one  way  or  another  well  acquainted,  at  least  by 
reputation.  In  a  few  days  we  had  constituted  ourselves  a 
branch  of  the  Universal  Burschenschaft,  and  were  some  fifty 
strong. 

There  was,  however,  a  society  in  Heidelberg  calling  itself 
Burschenschaft  made  up  of  students  from  Baden  who  could 
not  help  studying  at  Heidelberg  since  the  law  required  it,  as 
well  as  of  others  who  had  paid  no  attention  to  the  interdict. 
Now  we  were  perfectly  willing  to  allow  the  Baden  students 
to  join  our  society,  but  would  not  receive  those  who  had  de- 
fied the  bans.  It  took  a  week  or  two  to  settle  the  matter  and 
finally  a  compromise  was  made.  "We  took  in  the  Baden  stu- 
dents and  allowed  the  others  to  become  applicants  for  admis- 
sion, which  admission  depended  upon  the  vote  of  those  who 
were  members  already,  so  that  ultimately  we  had  the  pick, 
and  I  do  not  think  that  at  the  time  there  was  a  better  or  more 


174  MEMOIRS  OF  OUSTAVE  KOERNER 

respected  Burschenschaft  in  Germany  than  that  of  Heidel- 
berg. 

All  the  other  provincial  societies  were  publicly  recog- 
nized; the  Burschenschaft  was  not;  consequently  we  could 
not  wear  our  colors  nor  could  we  have  any  relation  with  the 
above  societies  (corps).  They  considered  us  as  Philistines, 
and  were  not  bound  to  give  us  satisfaction  when  they  offended 
us  unless  they  chose  to  do  so.  We  concluded  to  adopt  a  corps 
constitution,  submitted  it  to  the  authorities,  and  it  was  ap- 
proved. We  called  ourselves  the  Franconia,  adopted  blue, 
red  and  gold  as  our  colors,  elected  our  senior,  consenior  and 
sub-senior,  attended  the  general  assembly  of  the  corps,  and 
appointed  a  delegate  to  the  convention  of  all  the  seniors.  But 
this  was  mere  outward  show.  We  lived  under  the  Burschen- 
schaft constitution,  had  our  directory  and  court  of  honor. 
The  senior  of  our  Franconia  was  Von  Hude,  from  Luebeck. 
I  was  consenior.  I  was  the  speaker  of  the  Burschenschaft, 
and  Hude  one  of  the  directory  (Vorstand). 

HEIDELBERG  ACQUAINTANCES 

I  went  to  Heidelberg  with  the  intention  of  studying  very 
hard,  and  so  indeed  I  did  the  first  half  of  the  semester;  the 
latter  part  being  disturbed  by  various  incidents. 

I  made  some  very  interesting  acquaintances.  One  of  the 
most  talented  young  men  I  ever  met  at  the  University  was 
Henry  Brueggemann,  from  Muenster  in  Westphalia.  Small 
of  stature,  he  was  full  of  life  and  fire.  He  was  an  enthusiast, 
a  master  of  speech,  highly  educated  in  every  way,  a  model 
Burschenschafter.  In  my  opinion,  he  made  by  far  the  most 
effective  speech  at  the  great  Hambach  festival  in  May,  1832. 
He  stayed  some  days  with  me  in  Frankfort,  and  in  a  speech 
at  Wilhelmsbad,  before  thousands  of  people  from  Frankfort, 
Hanau  and  the  neighboring  villages,  electrified  the  audience 
to  such  a  degree  that  when  he  left  the  balcony  of  the  chateau 
from  which  he  had  spoken,  he  was  carried  around  on  the 
shoulders  of  some  of  the  people  under  the  deafening  applause 


HEIDELBERG  175 

of  the  crowd.  Brueggemann,  after  the  Frankfort  Attentat, 
was,  of  course,  prosecuted,  imprisoned,  and  I  believe,  con- 
demned to  thirty  years'  imprisonment  in  the  fortress.  The 
amnesty  of  Frederick  William  IV,  when  he  ascended  the  Prus- 
sian throne  in  1840,  set  him  free.  He  became  for  years  the 
chief  editor  of  the  "Cologne  Gazette."  I  have  not  been  able 
to  get  any  accurate  information  about  him.  In  1862  I  called 
at  the  office  of  the  "Gazette"  at  Cologne,  but  he  had  not  re- 
turned from  his  summer  retreat,  so  that  I,  very  much  to  my 
regret,  had  not  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  my  old  friend  and 
fellow-revolutionist. 

With  me  in  the  same  house,  on  the  same  floor,  roomed 
Max  von  Bigeleben,  of  a  distinguished  Hessian  family.  He 
was  of  a  most  amiable  disposition,  a  young  man  of  very  fair 
promise,  and  very  handsome.  Being  law  students,  we  fre- 
quently discussed  legal  questions,  and  I  found  his  company 
most  agreeable  and  useful.  In  1848,  and  after,  he  played  a 
considerable  public  role.  I  believe  he  belonged  to  the  great 
German  party  that  was  opposed  to  the  exclusion  of  Austria, 
and,  if  I  recollect  aright,  he  held  afterwards  a  prominent 
office  in  the  Austrian  government.  Hude  had  been  with  me  in 
Jena.  In  1848  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Bundestag  from  Lue- 
beck,  and  sought  to  liberalize  that  institution  as  long  as  it 
existed.  I  have  lost  track  of  him. 

Hoeninghaus,  from  Krefeld,  talented  and  highly  cul- 
tured, had  been  in  Munich  with  me.  After  1833  he  fell  un- 
der the  ban  of  the  government,  was  a  long  time  in  prison,  but 
was  finally  pardoned  through  the  influence  of  Alexander  von 
Hmnboldt.  Eigenbrodt,  from  Darmstadt,  was  another  noble 
fellow.  Adolph  Berchelmann,  from  Frankfort,  was  another 
true  and  noble  youth  belonging  to  our  society,  who  after  the 
third  of  April,  1833,  succeeded  in  escaping  from  Frankfort 
and  came  to  America,  where  he  lived  in  St.  Clair  County  and 
Belleville  as  a  practicing  physician,  and  died  there  beloved 
and  respected  by  all  who  ever  knew  him. 


176 

Koehler,  from  Holstein,  a  man  of  vast  acquirements,  an 
enthusiastic  liberal,  and  editor  of  a  journal  in  Mannheim, 
was  prosecuted  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  at  Bruchsal 
for  two  years,  but  was  rescued  in  1832  by  Hermann  More  and 
some  other  students  in  the  boldest  manner  from  that  terrible 
prison.  The  plan  to  liberate  him  was  laid  in  Frankfort  and 
the  means  furnished  by  the  Press-Union.  I  met  Koehler  af- 
terwards at  Strassburg  as  an  exile.  I  could  fill  a  page  were 
I  to  name  all  the  generous  and  patriotic  young  Burschen- 
schafter  then  at  Heidelberg.  Most  all  of  them  were  criminally 
prosecuted  in  1833,  some  of  them  condemned  to  death,  a  pun- 
ishment which  was  changed  to  imprisonment  for  life  by  an 
amnesty,  on  the  accession  of  Frederick  William  IV,  in  1840. 

REFUGEE  POLES  IN  GERMANY 

Warsaw  had  fallen.  Thousands  of  officers  of  the  Polish 
army  and  many  civilians  who  had  taken  an  active  part  in 
the  revolution  had  passed  into  Prussia,  where,  however,  they 
were  not  permitted  to  remain.  France  offered  them  an  asy- 
lum. These  exiles  now  passed  in  various  groups  through 
Germany.  They  were  most  cordially  received  by  the  liberals. 
Everywhere  committees  had  been  appointed  to  raise  means  to 
pay  their  expenses  in  the  hotels,  provide  for  transportation, 
and  take  care  of  the  wounded.  These  Poles  bore  themselves 
with  great  propriety,  received  the  many  ovations  given  them 
modestly,  and  while,  of  course,  deploring  the  fate  of  their 
unfortunate  country,  did  not  indulge  in  idle  denunciations 
of  their  oppressors.  A  Polish  committee  was  also  formed  in 
Baden,  consisting  of  some  very  high  officers  of  the  Liberal 
party,  of  some  members  of  the  Baden  legislature,  and  of 
some  professors  of  Heidelberg  and  Freiburg.  Professor  Mit- 
termaier,  from  Heidelberg,  was  one  of  the  most  active  mem- 
bers. 

We  also  of  the  Burschenschaft  raised  money  and  had  a 
representation  in  the  committee.  Some  Poles  had  already  ar- 
rived at  Heidelberg.  We  at  once  took  them  to  our  club-house 


HEIDELBERG  177 

and  to  our  houses  as  guests.  The  priest  Pulaski,  who  had  been 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  radical  party  of  the  revolution,  and 
who  had  not  been  permitted  to  stay  anywhere  in  Germany 
any  length  of  time  (having  been  signalized  by  the  Prussian 
police  as  a  most  dangerous  agitator,)  was  kept  by  me  as  long 
as  he  chose  to  stay.  Very  soon  we  got  news  that  a  large  party 
of  Poles  had  arrived  at  Frankenthal  on  their  way  to  France. 
A  large  number  of  the  Franconia  went  out  to  that  place  in 
carriages  and  on  horseback.  We  met  there  about  fifty  officers. 
The  citizens  of  Frankenthal,  including  the  most  intelligent 
and  respectable  classes,  and  we  students  treated  them  cor- 
dially, gave  them  a  banquet,  and  made  speeches,  condemning 
in  the  most  bitter  terms  Russia,  and  more  particularly  Prus- 
sia, as  an  accomplice  in  the  oppression  of  Poland.  We  fol- 
lowed the  exiles  to  Speyer,  the  capital  of  the  province  of 
Rhenish  Bavaria,  where  they  met  with  a  still  more  enthus- 
iastic reception.  A  splendid  ball  was  given,  where  the  beauty 
of  the  city  was  gathered  and  did  homage  to  the  gallant  Poles. 
It  must  be  said  that  most  of  the  Poles  were  refined  in  manner, 
spoke  French  fluently,  and  even  German;  and  their  almost 
unparalleled  bravery  in  fighting  for  their  independence  cer- 
tainly deserved  the  enthusiasm  with  which  they  were  wel- 
comed. 

The  passage  of  these  heroic  Poles  who  had  sacrificed  their 
fortunes  and  everything  else  dear  to  man,  marked  an  epoch 
in  Germany.  It  fired  the  hearts  of  all  liberals,  still  under  the 
excitement  of  the  revolution  in  France,  and  those  who  were 
partially  so  in  Brunswick,  Hesse-Cassel,  and  Saxony,  to  still 
more  decided  opposition,  and  gained  for  them  a  large  number 
of  men,  heretofore  indifferent.  Liberal  papers  sprang  up  in 
western  and  southern  Germany.  Freedom  of  the  press  and 
of  speech  was  loudly  demanded  by  the  different  legislative 
assemblies.  Public  meetings  were  held,  and  the  measures  of 
the  governments  openly  criticised.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  the  ruling  powers  began  to  be  alarmed  and  resorted 


178 

to  repression.  Our  poor  Franconia  was  thought  to  be  im- 
portant enough  to  fall  under  the  ban  of  the  authorities. 

It  is  true  our  society  had  in  a  very  short  time  made  itself 
very  important.  Composed,  as  it  was,  mostly  of  older  stu- 
dents, nearly  all  of  them  good  swordsmen,  it  took  at  once  high 
rank  among  the  corps.  It  constantly  increased  in  numbers. 
A  funeral  of  one  of  the  members,  Giessen,  from  Rhenish  Ba- 
varia, was,  including  deputations  from  other  corps,  attended 
by  some  two  hundred  participants,  who,  with  the  exception 
of  marshals  and  adjutants,  bore  torchlights,  which  on  the  re- 
turn to  the  city  were  thrown  in  a  heap  on  the  public  square, 
making  quite  a  large  fire.  Orations  were  delivered  and  dirges 
played  by  a  band.  Our  reception  of  the  Poles  at  Heidelberg, 
our  excursions  to  places  elsewhere  had,  of  course,  been  duly 
observed;  nor  had  it  escaped  the  eye  of  the  authorities  that 
the  Franconia  was  only  a  mask  behind  which  stood  a  very 
vigorous  section  of  the  Universal  Burschenschaft.  So  it  hap- 
pened that  late  in  February  Von  Hude  and  myself,  the  os- 
tensible leaders  of  the  Franconia,  were  cited  to  appear  before 
the  University  judge,  who  communicated  to  us  a  decree  of  the 
academical  senate,  ordering  the  dissolution  of  our  corps.  We 
remonstrated,  but  to  no  effect.  We  appealed  to  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior  of  Baden.  A  draft  of  this  appeal  is  still 
among  my  papers ;  but  the  decree  was  affirmed.  We  claimed 
a  trial;  but  we  were  given  to  understand  that  we  had  com- 
mitted no  criminal  act,  that  the  dissolution  was  not  a  pun- 
ishment but  only  a  police  measure,  and  that  no  reason  need 
be  assigned  for  the  adoption  of  it.  We  had  to  submit.  Our 
relations  with  the  other  corps  at  once  ceased.  If  duels  were 
to  be  fought  we  had  to  appear  as  civilians,  and  to  apply  for 
arms  and  seconds  to  one  of  the  other  corps  by  way  of  courtesy. 
Of  course,  the  Burschenschaft  continued  to  exist  as  heretofore, 
but  in  secret. 

It  may  be  here  remarked  that  during  the  winter  another 
council  of  the  Universal  Burschenschaft  was  held  in  Stuttgart, 
where  the  Franconia  was  duly  represented.  I,  however,  was 


HEIDELBERG  179 

not  a  member  of  it.  It  was  there  resolved  that  the  Bursehen- 
schaft  had  for  its  object  the  liberty  and  union  of  Germany, 
which  from  now  on  could  be  obtained  only  by  revolution,  and 
that  every  Burschenschaft  hereafter  should  join  the  existing 
union  for  the  liberty  of  the  press  called  the  ' '  Vaterlands- 
Verein."  This  resolution  was  afterwards  used  against  all 
the  members  of  the  Burschenschaft,  and  decided  the  unfor- 
tunate fate  of  many  of  that  community. 

HECKER.      A    HEIDELBERG    DUEL 

Before  I  finish  my  narrative  of  this  semester  at  Heidel- 
berg, I  must  mention  a  rather  interesting  incident.  One  night 
returning  from  my  club-house,  I  heard  a  great  noise  ahead 
of  me,  and,  coming  nearer,  I  found  two  young  members  of 
of  our  society  engaged  in  a  quarrel  with  three  or  four  other 
students.  I  addressed  my  friends,  telling  them  that  if  they 
had  any  difficulty,  to  settle  it  in  the  right  way  next  morning, 
and  not  to  quarrel  in  the  street  like  schoolboys.  The  most 
boisterous  of  the  other  students,  quite  correctly  taking  this 
reprimand  as  intended  for  him  also,  turned  to  me,  saying: 
"What  the  devil  do  you  mean?  This  is  none  of  your  busi- 
ness. ' '  I  replied :  "  I  did  not  speak  to  you,  but  to  my  friends ; 
and  I  will  say  what  I  please."  Whereupon  he  called  me  an 
"imbecile,"  the  customary  word  of  insult,  provocative  of  a 
challenge.  I  asked  his  name,  as  I  had  never  seen  him  before. 
"Hecker  is  my  name."  "Mine  is  Koerner,"  said  I,  "you  will 
hear  from  me. ' '  Upon  inquiry  I  was  told  that  Hecker  was  a 
very  fine  fellow,  very  popular  in  his  society,  the  corps  of  the 
Palatinate  (Pfaelzer),  but  very  high-tempered  and  quarrel- 
some, and  a  person  who  had  had  many  duels  on  account  of 
his  hotheadedness.  A  few  days  afterwards,  we  met  at  the  or- 
dinary fighting  grounds,  the  Hirschgasse,  a  public  house  on 
the  Neckar,  opposite  Heidelberg.  Hecker  was  very  much  ex- 
cited, and,  as  I  was  cool,  looking  on  an  encounter  with  broad- 
swords as  a  very  small  matter,  he  was  no  match  for  me.  After 
cutting  him  across  the  breast  several  times,  he  finally  very 


180  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

imprudently  brought  his  left  hand,  which  is  always  kept  be- 
hind the  back  in  such  a  duel,  forward  as  if  to  parry  a  strike, 
and  in  this  wise  I  struck  him  in  the  hand  between  the  thumb 
and  forefinger.  The  wound  was  an  ugly  one,  had  to  be  sewed 
up  and  dressed,  and  so  this  unpleasantness  ended,  leaving  me 
entirely  untouched. 

Now  the  fact  is  that  I  had  forgotten  everything  about 
this  affair,  as  I  have  forgotten  several  similar  ones,  not  even 
recollecting  the  names  of  my  adversaries.  After  I  had  been 
some  ten  years  or  more  in  this  country,  I  saw  notices  of  Heck- 
er  in  the  German  papers  as  being  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and 
radical  members  of  the  opposition  in  the  Baden  Chambers; 
but  even  that  did  not  bring  the  little  duel  to  my  recollection. 
Besides  the  name  is  not  an  uncommon  one  in  Germany.  Some 
years  afterwards,  however,  in  1845  or  1846,  I  was  informed 
that  the  distinguished  tribune  of  the  people  was  no  other  than 
the  one  I  had  fought  with  in  the  Hirschgasse.  Baron  Von 
Itzstein,  the  leader  of  the  constitutional  opposition  in  Baden, 
and  Fred  Hecker  had  undertaken  a  journey  to  the  north  of 
Germany  just  for  pleasure.  They,  without  the  least  idea  of 
danger,  had  extended  their  journey  to  Berlin,  where  they  were 
ordered  by  the  police  to  leave  Berlin  instantly.  This  step  on 
the  part  of  the  government,  as  arbitrary  as  it  was  stupid,  cre- 
ated the  greatest  excitement,  not  only  in  Germany,  but  was 
severely  commented  upon  by  the  English  and  the  German 
press.  Here  was  a  German  nobleman  of  large  possessions,  who 
had  held  high  office,  a  member  of  the  legislature  of  one  of  the 
sister  states,  and  here  was  Hecker,  a  prominent  lawyer,  prac- 
tising in  the  highest  courts,  also  a  member  of  the  legislature, 
both  men  of  unimpeachable  character  and  of  great  reputation, 
treated  like  vagabonds  and  ordered  out  of  a  state  which  be- 
longed to  the  common  country.  The  indignation  of  the  lib- 
erals knew  no  bounds  at  this  outrageous  and  wholly  unjusti- 
fiable act.  It  was  condemned  even  in  Prussia  by  a  large  ma- 
jority of  the  people.  On  their  homeward  journey,  as  soon  as 
they  were  outside  of  Prussia,  where  the  police  would  have  in- 


HEIDELBERG  181 

terfered,  they  were  everywhere  received  with  the  greatest  en- 
thusiasm, were  banqueted,  and  in  every  way  honored.  They 
received  a  great  ovation  at  Frankfort.  My  brother  being  one 
of  a  committee  of  reception  at  a  dinner  given  in  their  honor, 
was  introduced  to  Hecker,  or  Hecker  to  him,  when  the  latter 
at  once  asked  my  brother  whether  he  was  a  brother  of  that 
Koerner  who  had  gone  to  America.  Being  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  he  in  his  dashing  way  said:  "O,  I  am  so  glad  to 
see  you.  When  you  write  to  him  give  him  my  most  cordial 
greetings.  I  knew  him  in  Heidelberg,  and  —  look  here  —  he 
left  me  this  memento,"  showing  him  the  scar  which  he  had 
really  inflicted  upon  himself  by  his  imprudence.  My  brother's 
letter  first  recalled  the  long  forgotten  matter  to  my  mind. 

IMSBACH  AND   THE   ENGELMANN   FAMILY 

Toward  the  end  of  my  term  at  Heidelberg,  I  received  a 
letter  from  my  friend  Theodore  Engelmann.  He  had  left 
Munich  late  in  the  fall  of  1831  and  had  gone  home  to  Imsbach, 
where  his  family  lived.  His  father,  Theodore  Frederick  En- 
gelmann, was  master  of  forests  (Forstmeister),  and  his  of- 
ficial residence  was,  or  ought  to  have  been,  in  Winnweiler,  the 
seat  of  the  canton.  But  Mr.  Engelmann,  owning  a  house  and 
some  land  in  Imsbach,  a  village  only  a  mile  or  two  from  Winn- 
weiler, resided  there.  It  was  situated  at  the  entrance  of  the 
romantic  Falkenstein  valley,  in  a  beautiful  region  near  Don- 
nersberg,  Mt.  Tonnere,  the  highest  peak  of  the  Haardt,  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  Vosges  Mountains.  Mr.  Engelmann  had  then 
already  formed  a  plan,  with  some  of  his  relations,  to  emigrate 
to  the  United  States  with  all  his  family,  except  one  married 
daughter.  Theodore  had  concluded  to  go  also.  Thinking  that 
law  would  be  of  no  use  to  him  in  the  far  west,  he  was  learning 
a  trade  and  had  already  made  arrangements  to  learn  the  trade 
of  tanner  in  Kaiserslautern.  He  invited  me  to  come  and 
spend  some  weeks  in  Imsbach,  where  I  could  also  find  a  quiet 
place  to  prepare  myself  for  my  examination  previous  to  grad- 
uation. He  had  so  often  talked  to  me  of  his  family  and  in 


182  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

such  terms  that  I  had  already  formed  a  very  high  opinion  of 
his  parents  and  his  brothers  and  sisters.  I  accepted  his  in- 
vitation. 

Towards  the  end  of  March,  1832,  I  went  with  my  friend 
and  fellow-student,  Hermann  More,  to  Gruenstadt,  where  his 
parents  resided,  stayed  there  over  night  and  became  acquaint- 
ed with  his  father,  who  held  the  office  of  notary,  a  quasi- ju- 
dicial office  under  the  French  law,  which  still,  with  modifica- 
tions, prevailed  in  the  German  provinces  west  of  the  Rhine, 
and  one  of  much  profit  and  importance.  The  old  gentleman 
was  widely  known  in  Rhenish  Bavaria  as  being  a  man  of  su- 
perior mind,  of  great  business  capacity,  and  also  of  exuberant 
wit  and  humor.  He  was  an  extreme  liberal.  He  had  a  very 
fine  family,  his  daughters  counted  as  the  most  beautiful  girls  in 
the  province.  One  of  them  afterwards  became  the  first  wife 
of  Edgar  Quinet,  a  well-known  French  philosopher,  historian 
and  scientist.  The  Mores  were  also  related  to  the  Engelmann 
family. 

The  next  evening  I  arrived  at  Imsbach.  My  reception 
there  was  most  cordial.  Theodore  must  have  given  a  most 
favorable  description  of  me  to  his  family.  I  was  treated  at 
once  like  a  member  of  it.  Mr.  Engelmann,  the  father,  then 
fifty-two  years  old,  of  noble  stature  and  bearing,  of  very  reg- 
ular, handsome  features,  very  clear  complexion,  large,  beauti- 
ful blue  eyes,  and  honesty  and  benignity  beaming  from  his 
face,  made  at  once  a  striking  impression  on  me.  He  was  the 
finest  elderly  gentleman  I  thought  I  had  ever  seen.  His  very 
light  hair  showed  some  streaks  of  gray,  and  his  moustache 
was  quite  gray.  In  his  full  dress  uniform  he  looked  very  mil- 
itary. Mrs.  Engelmann  showed  her  French  descent.  Her  hair 
was  black ;  brilliant  dark  eyes  gave  her  a  very  interesting  look ; 
she  was  a  bright  woman  and  of  as  kind  a  disposition  as  her 
husband.  Two  daughters  were  absent:  Margaret,  who  had 
married  Mr.  Fred  Hilgard,  her  cousin,  who  lived  in  Speyer 
and  was  engaged  in  the  wholesale  wine  business,  being  the 
owner  of  two  estates,  one  called  St.  Johann,  near  Landau,  and 


HEIDELBERG  183 

the  other  Klosterhof,  near  Kirchheim.  He  had  been  mayor 
(burgomaster)  of  Speyer,  but  owing  to  his  liberal  views,  his 
last  election  had  not  been  sanctioned  by  the  royal  government. 
Josephine  had  been  for  years  with  her  uncle,  Joseph  Engel- 
mann,  the  well-known  bookseller  and  publisher  at  Heidelberg, 
and  was  still  there  when  I  came  to  Imsbach.  There  were  at 
home,  Caroline,  Charlotte,  Sophie,  Betty,  and  Theodore,  and 
two  small  boys,  Jacob  and  Adolph.  Ludwig,  a  year  or  so 
younger  than  Theodore,  was  a  student  of  pharmacy  at  Heidel- 
berg. Sophie  was  sixteen  years  of  age  and  Betty  about  twelve. 

I  had  a  room  to  myself,  with  a  large  table  on  which  I 
could  spread  out  all  the  law  books  I  needed  for  my  study. 
After  breakfast,  which  was  quite  early,  I  went  up  and  with 
hardly  any  interruption  read  and  wrote  until  midday.  Din- 
ner always  lasted  some  time,  there  being  much  conversation. 
Mr.  Engelmann,  Theodore  and  myself,  and  the  chief  clerk  in 
the  office,  quite  a  pleasant  and  intellectual  young  man,  always 
had  wine. 

A  great  contrast  existed  between  the  two  sisters  Caroline 
and  Charlotte.  Caroline  was  self-conscious,  and  positive.  Her 
conduct  was  regulated  by  what  she  considered  to  be  right. 
Having  formed  an  opinion  she  stood  by  it  with  great  firmness. 
Though  she  had  small  feet  and  hands,  she  was  very  stout  and 
strongly  built.  Charlotte,  who  was  quite  small,  of  a  very 
fair  complexion,  large  brown  eyes,  and  more  delicately 
framed,  was  very  emotional.  Her  heart  frequently  ran  away 
with  her  head ;  all  was  impulse  with  her ;  and  she  could  easily 
be  swayed  by  momentary  impressions. 

Both  sisters,  however,  were  of  very  kindly  dispositions; 
both  were  devoted  to  their  parents ;  and  both  very  enthusiastic 
liberals.  They  had  been  frequently  away  from  home,  had  seen 
many  very  excellent  people  at  the  hospitable  house  of  their 
father,  and  had  read  a  great  deal.  I  found  them,  therefore, 
quite  interesting.  Margaret,  Mrs.  Fred  Hilgard,  from  Speyer, 
came  to  visit  her  parents.  She  was  a  very  handsome  lady, 
and  left  a  very  favorable  impression  on  me.  It  was  quite 


184  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

natural  that  I  should  take  more  interest  in  Sophie  than  in 
the  older  sisters.  Being  so  much  younger,  she  was  kept,  or 
rather  kept  herself,  more  in  the  background.  She  was  then 
sixteen.  I  thought  that  she  was  even  more  attentive  and  de- 
voted to  her  parents  than  her  sisters.  She  was  tender  also 
to  the  other  members  of  the  family.  She  was  not  long  re- 
turned from  Speyer,  where  she  had  been  for  some  two  years 
with  Margaret ;  that  city  affording  better  advantages  for  edu- 
cation than  the  Imsbach  village  or  even  the  town  of  Winn- 
weiler.  I  do  not  know  why  it  was,  but  it  did  me  good  to  look 
at  her.  Even  when  we  did  not  converse  much,  her  very  pres- 
ence delighted  me.  A  few  times  we  walked  in  the  garden 
quite  alone,  or  went  out  into  the  valley  a  short  distance.  Of 
course,  I  said  many  kind  words  to  her,  but  was  careful  not 
to  betray  any  particular  feeling.  Under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances,  I  could  not  obtain  a  position  to  enable  me  to 
found  a  family  for  the  next  ten  years  in  my  native  city;  be- 
sides, her  family  had  nearly  made  up  their  mind  to  emigrate 
in  the  near  future  to  America.  Whether  she  had  any  tender 
feeling  for  me  at  that  time  I  dad  not  then  know.  Her  ex- 
treme modesty  would  have  prevented  her  from  showing  it.  I 
thought,  however,  that  I  had  discovered  in  this  young  maiden 
a  fund  of  tenderness,  a  purity,  and  an  utter  absence  of  self- 
ishness which  was  bound  to  make  any  man  happy  who  was 
fortunate  enough  to  win  her. 

I  must  give  myself  credit  for  having  studied  pretty  hard 
during  the  six  or  seven  weeks  that  I  stayed  at  Imsbach.  Others 
may  have  thought  that  I  was  idling  away  a  good  deal  of  my 
time;  but  I  had  always  made  it  a  point  not  to  appear  too 
busy,  even  when  I  was.  I  allowed  myself  plenty  of  leisure 
hours  in  order  to  do  much  work  in  a  short  time.  I  made  many 
fine  excursions  into  the  neighborhood.  Mr.  Engelmann  often 
put  his  fine  saddle-horse  at  my  disposal,  and  I  visited  some 
very  pretty  places.  At  one  time  the  whole  family  went  out 
some  ten  miles  to  a  fish  pond  of  which  Mr.  Engelmann,  to- 
gether with  some  other  gentlemen,  held  a  lease.  They  also, 


HEIDELBERG  185 

on  appointment,  came  out  there  with  their  families  and 
friends.  Every  spring  just  such  a  meeting  took  place  for  the 
purpose  of  diminishing  the  number  of  fish,  and  particularly 
the  pikes,  so  destructive  to  the  young  brood  of  fish.  We  found 
a  large  party  present.  A  part  of  the  water  was  let  off  and  a 
large  number  of  fish  taken  in  nets.  The  ladies  and  their  ser- 
vants got  up  a  splendid  dinner,  cooking  and  broiling  the  fish 
on  the  ground.  There  were  plenty  of  good  things  and  in  this 
wine-land  there  was  no  absence  of  excellent  wine.  Cakes  and 
other  dainties  were  in  abundance.  In  fact,  it  was  a  most 
brilliant  fete  champetre. 

At  another  time,  Theodore,  Caroline,  Sophie,  and  myself 
paid  a  visit  to  Wachenheim,  at  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Joseph 
Engelmann,  of  Heidelberg,  who  had  a  country-house  at  that 
beautiful  place,  celebrated  for  its  superior  vineyards.  We 
walked  all  the  way,  some  twenty  miles.  Starting  early  in  the 
morning,  we  took  dinner  at  Ramsen  with  an  under-forester 
(Revierfoerster),  in  Mr.  Engelmann 's  district,  where  we  had 
some  of  the  splendid  trout  for  which  Ramsen  is  so  well  known 
in  that  district  of  the  country.  Taking  a  good  rest,  we  reached 
Wachenheim  late  in  the  evening,  and  were  most  cordially  re- 
ceived by  Uncle  Joseph.  We  stayed  there  all  next  day,  Theo- 
dore and  myself  making  a  short  excursion  to  Duerkheim, 
where  we  accidentally  met  our  friend  and  fellow-student  from 
Munich,  Gutienne.  He  was  a  most  lively  and  sociable  fel- 
low, a  native  of  Saarlouis,  tall  and  very  handsome.  He  was 
an  enthusiastic  Liberal,  and  became  afterwards,  in  1848,  a 
member  of  the  Prussian  Constituent  Assembly,  which  was 
forcibly  dissolved  in  November,  1848.  We  took  him  along 
with  us  to  Wachenheim,  and  from  there  to  Imsbach.  At  both 
places,  he  charmed  everybody  by  his  vivacity  and  his  good 
humor. 

In  Wachenheim  I  met  for  the  first  time  sister  Josephine. 
She  was  some  two  or  three  years  older  than  Sophie.  Her 
sweet  and  highly  intellectual  face,  her  agreeably  interesting 
conversation,  gave  me  at  once  a  very  high  opinion  of  her  char- 


186  MEMOIRS  OF  G-USTAVE  KOERNER 

acter,  which  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  at  a  later  time  did 
not  fail  to  confirm.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  home  trip.  This 
excursion  by  the  side  of  Sophie  was  one  of  the  sweetest  spots 
in  my  life. 

At  last  my  time  had  come  to  go  back  to  Heidelberg.  My 
Latin  dissertation  had  been  written.  I  had  already  applied 
to  the  faculty  for  graduation  as  a  doctor  of  law,  and  the  mid- 
dle of  May  had  been  fixed  for  my  examination.  About  the 
sixth  of  May  I  left  Imsbach  where  I  had  lived  an  idyl.  I  had 
been  treated  as  a  son  and  brother.  With  many  kisses  I  parted 
from  the  girls.  My  heart  was  a  little  heavy.  Before  me,  a 
somewhat  rigid  examination  by  some  of  the  greatest  legal 
lights,  behind  me,  Sophie,  whom  I  had  named  the  ' '  little  flower 
of  the  Alsenz,"  the  clear  little  stream  which  runs  by  Winn- 
weiler  and  empties  into  the  Nahe  at  the  Ebernburg  near 
Kreuznach,  and  bears  that  name. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Hambach  Festival 

I  have  already  spoken  of  my  promotion  as  doctor  of  law 
—  June  14,  —  but  when  I  took  my  leave  from  lovely  and  fa- 
mous Heidelberg,  I  did  not  go  directly  home  to  Frankfort. 
On  the  26th  of  May  the  great  festival  at  the  ruins  of  the  large 
castle  of  Hambach  near  Neustadt  was  to  take  place. 

WIRTH  AND  THE  PRESS  UNIONS 

Dr.  John  G.  A.  Wirth  had  received  a  classical  education, 
had  studied  law  at  Erlangen,  and  was  pursuing  his  profession. 
He,  however,  quite  early  engaged  in  literary  labor  and  pub- 
lished several  journals  of  political  and  national-economic  char- 
acter. He  was  not  what  we  call  here  a  newspaper  man,  but  a 
real  journalist,  such  as  Germany  had  not  seen  since  Goerres 
in  his  rational  days  had  published  the  "Rhenish  Mercury." 
Wirth  was  a  man  of  genius,  an  idealist ;  his  language,  written 
or  spoken,  was  most  impressive  and  fiery,  but  always  chaste  and 
noble.  When  he  first  published  the  "German  Tribune"  in 
Munich  in  1831,  at  the  time  the  Bavarian  legislature  was  in 
session,  his  opposition  to  the  government  was  moderate,  and 
was  kept  strictly  within  legal  bounds.  But  in  criticising  the 
reactionary  measures  of  the  government  he  was  bold  and  out- 
spoken. The  singular  clearness  and  force  of  his  arguments 
at  once  gained  for  the  paper  a  very  large  circulation  in  the 
heart  of  Bavaria  and  Jesuitism.  The  government  became 
alarmed.  His  articles  were  sadly  mutilated  by  the  censor,  and 
in  many  other  ways  he  was  much  annoyed.  The  post-office 
was  directed  to  interfere  with  the  circulation  of  the  paper. 
Wirth 's  remonstrances  were  rejected.  The  government  papers 


188  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

made  war  on  him  in  the  coarsest  and  most  scandalous  way. 
No  wonder  that  such  a  fiery  soul  as  Wirth's  could  not  brook 
such  a  course.  His  language  became  more  decided,  and  finally 
he  decided  to  remove  his  press  to  a  more  congenial  region.  In 
the  winter  of  1832,  he  published  the  "Tribune"  in  Homburg 
in  Rhenish  Bavaria,  where  the  laws  being  substantially  those 
introduced  by  the  French  after  they  had  annexed  the  country 
to  the  left  of  the  Rhine,  gave  far  more  liberty  to  the  citizens 
than  the  laws  of  the  rest  of  Bavaria.  The  "Tribune"  soon 
became  the  organ  of  the  Liberal  party  in  Germany  and  made 
the  governments  tremble.  Some  of  the  neighboring  States 
prohibited  its  circulation,  and  at  the  instance  of  the  Bundes- 
tag, the  Bavarian  government  from  time  to  time  confiscated 
the  journal  and  prosecuted  its  editor  and  printer  for  what 
they  called  the  abuse  of  the  press.  Wirth  then,  by  a  public 
address  to  the  German  people,  called  upon  them  to  form  patri- 
otic unions  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  all  Liberal  papers, 
assisting  in  their  circulation,  raising  a  fund  for  indemnifying 
editors  when  they  were  fined  by  the  courts,  and  printing  pam- 
phlets. A  central  committee  for  these  patriotic  or  Press-Un- 
ions, as  they  were  generally  called,  was  established  at  Deux 
Fonts  (Zweibruecken),  consisting  of  the  eminent  lawyers 
and  statesmen,  Schueler,  Savoye  and  Geib.  Sub-committees 
were  formed  in  almost  every  city  and  town  in  the  Rhenish  and 
Franconian  provinces  of  Bavaria,  in  Wuertemberg,  in  Baden, 
in  Hesse-Cassel  and  Hesse-Darmstadt,  and  in  Nassau.  And 
in  a  very  short  time,  similar  unions  were  formed  in  Saxony 
and  in  the  dukedoms  of  Coburg,  Altenburg  and  Weimar,  in 
the  Prussian  Rhenish  provinces,  in  Westphalia,  in  Hanover, 
and  even  in  the  Hansa  towns  and  Holstein.  Everybody  be- 
came a  member  who  subscribed  some  money  every  week  or 
month,  the  amount  of  which  was  left  to  each  one  to  fix.  Even 
in  a  great  many  villages  such  societies  were  formed.  The 
papers  principally  supported  by  these  unions  were  the  "West- 
bote,"  edited  by  a  most  able  lawyer,  Dr.  Siebenpfeiffer,  the 
"Tribune,"  the  "Watchman  on  the  Rhine,"  the  ' ' Zeitschwin- 


HAMBACH  FESTIVAL  189 

gen,"  the  "Donau-Zeitung,"  and  several  papers  published  in 
Frankfort.  The  Bundestag  prohibited  these  unions,  but  did 
not  prevent  their  spreading  all  over  the  country.  The  sub- 
scribers did  not  need  to  give  their  names  if  they  did  not 
choose,  but  might  adopt  some  chiffre  or  fictitious  name. 

THE  HAMBACHEB  SCHLOSS  FESTIVAL 

While  political  excitement,  so  much  increased  by  the 
Polish  exodus  and  the  bold  language  of  the  press,  thus  ran  very 
high,  some  thirty  prominent  citizens  of  Neustadt  by  the  Haardt 
issued,  at  the  instance  of  Dr.  Siebenpfeiffer,  an  invitation  for 
a  general  German  festival  to  be  held  on  the  27th  of  May,  1832, 
at  the  Hambacher  Schloss,  situated  on  a  high  hill,  near  Neu- 
stadt, now  in  ruins,  once  a  beautiful  castle,  destroyed  in  the 
Peasants'  Wars  by  the  infuriated  and  downtrodden  serfs.  The 
meeting  —  such  was  the  language  of  the  invitation  —  was  not 
to  celebrate  great  and  glorious  events,  for  the  Germans  had 
no  reason  to  commemorate  such,  but  to  express  the  desire  and 
the  hope  to  obtain  legal  liberty  and  national  dignity.  From 
every  part  of  Germany  the  people  were  to  meet  for  brotherly 
reunion  and  for  a  peaceable  discussion  of  the  common  inter- 
ests of  their  great  country. 

The  idea  of  such  a  national  confederation  took  like  wild- 
fire. The  Liberal  press  at  once  warmly  supported  it.  The  Ba- 
varian government  took  the  alarm.  The  President  of  the 
province,  Von  Andrian,  at  once  issued  an  order  forbidding  the 
meeting.  But  this  was  like  pouring  oil  on  the  fire.  The  in- 
augurators,  having  obtained  the  opinions  of  distinguished 
lawyers,  who  pronounced  the  meeting  legal  according  to  the 
established  constitution  and  laws,  published  a  strong  protest 
against  the  ordinance;  the  city  council  of  Neustadt  protested 
still  stronger.  All  the  city  councils  of  the  province  followed 
suit,  and,  last  but  not  least,  the  provincial  delegates,  a  body 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  Rhenish  Bavaria,  elected  by 
the  legal  voters  and  charged  with  the  power  of  administering 
the  local  affairs  of  the  province,  being  then  in  session,  also 


190  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

insisted  in  the  most  determined  manner  on  a  repeal  of  the 
ordinance.  The  government,  frightened,  repealed  the  order, 
and  refrained  from  sending  even  police  or  troops  to  the  place. 

Baden,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  and  perhaps  some  neighboring 
governments  forbade  their  people  to  attend;  but  very  few 
obeyed  the  mandate.  The  people  did  meet,  and,  according  to 
the  report  of  the  government  officials,  the  number,  including 
a  great  many  ladies,  amounted  to  some  thirty  thousand  per- 
sons. By  others  it  was  estimated  as  high  as  fifty  or  sixty 
thousand.  That  the  Heidelberger  Burschenschaft,  as  well  as  a 
good  many  other  Burschenschaften,  was  fully  represented,  was 
a  matter  of  course. 

In  company  with  an  intimate  friend,  C.  Heintzmann,  I 
left  Heidelberg  on  the  23rd  of  May,  1832,  but  stopped  on  the 
way  at  Speyer  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Fred  Hilgard.  Sophie  En- 
gelmann  was  there  on  a  visit.  We  were  hospitably  received 
by  Mr.  Hilgard  and  his  wife,  Sophie's  sister.  Two  days  I 
passed  there  most  joyously.  There  I  met  also  Dora,  a  sister 
of  Theodore  Kraft,  who  had  been  with  me  at  Heidelberg,  and 
who  was  a  cousin  of  Sophie.  She  was  a  lovely  girl.  In  com- 
pany with  Miss  Emma  Heimberger  and  other  friends  we  took 
pleasant  walks,  and  spent  one  afternoon  in  a  beautiful  sum- 
mer garden.  Emma  was  a  fascinating  girl,  of  rather  irregular 
features,  brilliantly  dark  eyes  and  hair ;  of  great  vivacity  and 
very  beautiful.  She  became  afterwards  Mrs.  Theodore  Hil- 
gard, Jr.,  and  was  for  years  a  bright  star  in  our  German- Amer- 
ican settlement.  I  made  also  the  acquaintance,  at  that  time, 
of  her  brother  Gustav,  who  was  a  few  years  my  elder,  had 
studied  law  in  Heidelberg,  and  came  out  to  the  United  States 
a  year  before  I  did,  with  Theodore  and  Edward  Hilgard,  sons 
of  Frederick  Hilgard.  He  was  good-natured,  jovial  and  social, 
perhaps  too  much  so ;  but  as  a  companion  and  true  friend  no 
one  could  surpass  him. 

Mr.  Fred  Hilgard  took  us  through  a  lovely  and  pictur- 
esque country  in  his  own  carriage  to  Neustadt,  which,  like  the 
surrounding  villages,  already  overflowed  with  people.  We  met 


HAMBACH  FESTIVAL  191 

at  Neustadt,  Theodore  Engelmann  and  his  sisters  Caroline 
and  Charlotte,  who,  having  many  friends  and  relations  in  that 
place,  secured  us  comfortable  lodgings.  A  great  many  dis- 
tinguished leaders  of  the  Liberals  had  already  arrived.  The 
streets  at  night  were  crowded.  Bands  paraded,  serenading 
some  of  the  guests.  Next  morning  all  the  roads  leading  to 
Neustadt  were  crowded  with  carriages  and  vehicles  of  all 
kinds,  thousands  on  horseback,  and  many  thousands  who  had 
stopped  in  the  near  neighborhood,  on  foot.  In  the  public 
square  and  adjoining  streets  the  festival  committee,  supported 
by  many  marshals,  arranged  the  procession,  and  its  march  up 
to  the  old  castle  was  really  a  magnificent  sight.  Numerous 
bands  of  music  were  distributed  through  it.  The  delegations 
marched  under  their  own  banners,  all  displaying  their  na- 
tional colors.  There  were  sections  of  Poles,  of  French  Repub- 
licans, most  of  these  in  the  uniform  of  the  National  Guards, 
and  thousands  of  students  with  banners.  Even  the  ladies 
wore  scarfs  of  the  national  colors,  and  several  thousands  of 
them  graced  the  procession  by  marching  along  the  road.  On 
the  highest  tower  of  the  castle  an  immense  flag,  black,  red 
and  gold,  bearing  the  inscription  "Resurrection  of  Germany" 
was  floating.  From  the  mountain  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
panoramas  of  Germany  presents  itself.  The  green  Rhine  is 
seen  in  its  course  from  Mannheim  to  Mayence,  and  also  Frank- 
fort, Speyer,  Worms,  Oppenheim,  and  numerous  other  towns 
and  villages  of  the  Rhine,  Neckar  and  Main  valleys.  The 
background  is  formed  by  the  Haardt  Mountains  on  the  west, 
on  the  north  by  the  beautifully  curved  heights  of  the  Taunus 
Mountains  with  their  ruined  castles,  while  the  Bergstrasse 
ending  at  Heidelberg  closes  the  view  of  this  enchanting  scen- 
ery. 

THE    SPEECHES 

From  various  platforms  eloquent  speeches  were  made  by 
Doctor  Siebenpfeiffer,  Wirth,  Scharpff,  Henry  Brueggemann. 
and  others,  representing  the  sad  condition  of  Germany,  its  in- 
significance in  the  council  of  European  nations,  its  depression 


192  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

in  trade  and  commerce,  all  owing  to  the  want  of  national  un- 
ion, the  division  into  thirty-eight  States,  large  and  small,  with 
their  different  laws,  different  weights  and  measures,  different 
currencies,  and  most  of  all  to  the  custom-house  lines  surround- 
ing every  State.  The  orators  complained  of  the  pressure  which 
Austria  and  Prussia  exercised  over  the  German  Diet  at  Frank- 
fort, compelling  even  liberal-minded  princes  to  the  adoption 
of  unconstitutional  and  illegal  measures.  Brueggemann, 
whose  speech  was  one  of  the  most  eloquent,  addressed  the  meet- 
ing as  the  representative  of  the  German  youth,  which,  in  spite 
of  criminal  persecutions,  he  asserted  had  kept  the  idea  of  the 
liberty  and  unity  of  the  Vaterland  alive.  Persecuted  by  the 
government,  ridiculed  by  the  indifferent  and  by  the  organs 
of  the  government,  the  Burschenschaft  had  ever  represented 
the  union  of  all  the  German  races,  had  obliterated  State  lines, 
and  had  persistently  propagated  the  necessity  of  a  national 
union  throughout  the  land  by  its  members.  It  was  an  excit- 
ing moment,  when,  at  the  close  of  his  speech,  he  called  upon 
the  assembly  to  hold  their  hands  up  and  to  swear  the  oath 
which  the  delegates  of  the  three  Swiss  cantons,  on  the  height 
of  the  Ruetli,  swore,  as  given  in  the  glorious  language  of  Schil- 
ler in  his  "Tell." 

"We  swear  to  be  a  nation  of  true  brothers, 
Never  to  part  in  danger  and  hi  death." 

' '  "Wir  wollen  sein  ein  einzig  Volk  von  Bruedern, 
In  keiner  Noth  uns  trennen  und  Gef  ahr. ' ' 

"We  swear  we  will  be  free  as  were  our  sires 
And  sooner  die  than  live  in  slavery. ' ' 

"Wir  wollen  frei  sein  wie  die  Vater  waren, 
Eher  den  Tod,  als  in  der  Knechtschaf t  leben. ' ' 

Thousands  held  up  their  hands,  and  in  the  most  solemn 
manner  repeated  the  sentences  as  given  by  Brueggemann. 
After  a  deep  silence  tremendous  cheers  arose,  and  Brugge- 
mann  was  taken  down  in  triumph  by  an  electrified  multitude. 


HAMBACH  FESTIVAL  193 

Many  other  speeches  were  made  from  the  various  stands. 
They  differed  in  form  and  substance.  But  upon  the  whole 
the  prevailing  sentiment  was  that  reforms  in  the  different  con- 
stitutions and  in  the  constitution  of  the  Bund  should  be 
brought  about  by  force  of  public  opinion  and  the  support  of 
a  free  press  enlightening  and  informing  the  masses  about  their 
rights  and  duties.  Some  excited  speakers,  despairing  of  a 
peaceable  solution,  advised  forcible  resistance  to  illegal  meas- 
ures. Mr.  Lucien  Rey,  a  distinguished  French  journalist, 
from  Strassburg,  made  a  most  admirable  speech  in  French, 
congratulating  the  Germans  on  their  endeavor  to  obtain  con- 
stitutional freedom,  and  assuring  the  assembly  that  the  French 
Republicans  had  no  idea,  even  if  they  might  fly  to  the  assist- 
ance of  their  German  brethren,  of  asking  compensation  by  the 
cessions  of  the  Rhenish  provinces  which  at  the  time  of  the  rev- 
olution had  been  conquered  by  the  Republican  army.  This 
was  in  reply  to  some  passages  in  Wirth's  speech  in  which  he 
insisted  that  Germans  must  rely  on  themselves,  and  not  count 
on  assistance  from  France,  as  such  assistance  would  not  be 
given  without  claims  for  compensation.  In  form  and  sub- 
stance his  speech  was  a  masterpiece. 

Speeches  were  made  by  some  Polish  officers,  and  on  the 
second  day  of  the  meeting  by  Fred  Schueler,  the  greatest  of  all 
Liberal  leaders  as  regards  personal  presence,  a  man  of  eminent 
legal  knowledge,  power  of  oratory  and  purity  of  character. 
Joseph  Savoye,  a  distinguished  lawyer  and  statesman,  also 
made  a  speech.  In  fact,  there  were  large  gatherings  during 
the  three  days  of  the  27th,  28th  and  29th  of  May  at  the  Ham- 
bacher  Schloss.  Besides  the  gentlemen  mentioned,  there  were 
present  a  great  many  Liberal  leaders  of  the  legislatures  of 
Bavaria,  Baden,  Nassau,  Hesse-Cassel,  Hesse-Darmstadt  and 
Wuertemberg,  and  the  leading  journalists  of  the  liberal  papers 
of  Frankfort,  Mannheim,  Carlsruhe,  and  Stuttgart.  Numer- 
ous addresses  came  from  the  Rhenish  provinces  of  Prussia, 
from  the  central  Polish  committee  at  Paris,  and  from  several 
other  cities  and  towns.  Ludwig  Boerne,  whose  letters  from 


194  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENER 

Paris,  had  just  then  electrified  all  Liberals,  was  also  present 
It  was  the  first  time  I  saw  him.  He  was  of  small,  delicate 
stature,  broken  in  health,  and  deathly  pale.  He  showed  his 
Jewish  descent  plainly,  but  his  features  were  highly  interest- 
ing. His  brilliant  black  eyes  gave  light  to  his  pallid  face. 
His  mouth  was  firmly  cut ;  round  his  lips  played  a  melancholy 
smile.  He  was  very  reticent,  and  when  we  Heidelbergers 
serenaded  him  and  addressed  him  in  very  flattering  words,  he 
thanked  us  very  briefly  and  seemed  to  be  overcome  by  emotion. 

CONCLUDING  MEETINGS,  AND  RESULTS 

Several  meetings  of  the  principal  leaders  were  held  in 
Neustadt,  and  many  discussions  took  place  as  to  what  was  to 
be  done.  Some  were  undoubtedly  under  the  impression  that 
a  provincial  government  should  at  once  be  organized,  and  that 
the  people  should  be  called  to  arms.  Of  course,  this  chimerical 
view  found  no  favor  with  the  large  majority  of  those  present. 
The  principal  object,  agitation,  had  been  obtained.  The  press- 
unions  were  to  be  extended  and  supported  in  every  nook  and 
corner  of  Germany.  Everyone  was  to  strive  to  bring  about 
the  election  of  Liberal  members  to  the  various  legislative 
assemblies.  Similar  meetings  were  to  be  organized,  and  in 
case  the  present  members  of  the  central  committee  of  the  Press- 
Union  should  be  arrested,  other  members  were  designated  who 
should  take  their  places,  and  the  central  committee  was  then 
to  be  moved  to  Frankfort. 

The  meeting  made  a  great  impression  on  me.  A  greater 
popular  demonstration  I  have  never  seen  even  on  this  side  of 
the  water.  The  enthusiasm  was  unbounded,  and  the  feeling 
that  the  wrath  of  kings  and  princes  would  be  visited  upon  a 
great  many  of  us  made  the  event  still  more  exciting.  All  of 
this  took  place  in  one  of  the  most  lovely  and  interesting  spots 
in  our  country,  favored  by  splendid  spring  weather,  amidst 
the  shouting  of  patriotic  songs  and  the  smiles  of  thousands  of 
fair  women.  It  was  enough  even  to  fire  the  hearts  of  old  and 
considerate  men.  How  must  it  have  worked  upon  us  young 


HAMBACH  FESTIVAL  195 

men !  I  venture  to  say  that  no  one  who  witnessed  this  popular 
rising,  no  matter  how  indifferent  he  might  have  been,  has  ever 
been  able  to  obliterate  from  his  memory  the  May  festival  at 
the  Hambacher  Schloss. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Before  the  Storm 

Returned  to  Frankfort,  I  now  had  to  begin  the  real  strug- 
gle of  life.  I  at  once  prepared  for  the  state's  examination  a 
written  essay  on  some  important  point  of  law,  which  had  to 
be  submitted  to  the  examiners,  consisting  of  four  members 
of  the  highest  courts,  who,  after  passing  judgment  upon  it, 
appointed  two  of  their  commission  for  an  oral  examination. 
That  examination  was  to  be  of  a  more  practical  nature;  that 
is,  it  extended  to  the  body  of  laws  prevailing  in  the  free  city, 
and  to  the  rules  of  practice  in  the  different  courts.  I  went  to 
work  in  earnest,  but  things  went  so  slowly  that  I  was  invited 
to  an  oral  examination  only  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  the 
decree  of  admission  was  not  rendered  till  in  February,  1833. 
This  was,  however,  the  usual  time  which  elapsed  between 
application  and  reception.  Nevertheless,  I  had  been  employed 
in  some  cases,  though  my  briefs  and  pleas  had  to  be  signed  by 
some  practicing  lawyer-friend. 

FIRST  GERMAN  LAW  SUIT 

In  one  case  I  was  much  interested.  My  brother  Charles 
had  been  accused  of  having  distributed  a  printed  address  to 
the  people  of  the  Dukedom  of  Nassau  advising  them  not  to 
pay  certain  taxes,  on  the  ground  that  the  legislature  had 
refused  to  vote  them,  and  that  the  government  was  demanding 
direct  taxes  at  a  time  when  the  income  from  the  domain  belong- 
ing to  the  state  was  sufficient  to  pay  the  expenses.  Charles 
had  given  one  of  these  addresses  to  a  young  friend  to  read, 
under  promise  of  having  it  returned.  But  the  latter  had  sent 
it  to  his  brother  in  Nassau,  who  handed  it  over  to  the  mayor  of 


BEFORE  THE  STORM  197 

his  town.  Charles  was  tried  by  the  police  court  of  Frankfort, 
and  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  and  to  be  imprisoned  for  four 
weeks  in  the  citizens'  prison.  He  appealed,  and  I  carried  his 
case  to  the  Appellate  Court,  prepared  the  argument,  but 
objected  to  the  court  as  being  prejudiced,  —  whereupon  under 
the  then  existing  law  the  case  was  sent  to  the  law  faculty  of 
Berlin  to  decide  it  in  lieu  of  the  Frankfort  court.  Doctor 
Reinganum,  the  leader  of  the  Frankfort  bar,  signed  the  papers 
for  me.  No  decision  had  been  made  before  I  left  Frankfort 
for  the  United  States,  but  I  had  the  satisfaction  to  learn  soon 
after  my  arrival  here  that  the  Berlin  faculty,  though  it  had 
not  quite  acquitted  my  brother,  had  reduced  the  judgment 
to  a  nominal  fee  and  reversed  the  imprisonment,  averring,  as 
I  had  contended,  that  even  if  the  address  were  revolutionary, 
(which  I  had  absolutely  denied,)  the  defendant  had  not  wil- 
fully distributed  it,  but  had  been  guilty  of  negligence  merely. 

POLITICAL  EVENTS 

But  much  as  I  was  desirous  of  attending  to  my  business 
only,  it  was  impossible  to  remain  indifferent  to  the  political 
events  which  now  crowded  upon  one  another  with  rapidity, 
particularly  in  Frankfort  and  its  neighborhood. 

Early  in  June  the  German  Diet  in  Frankfort  had  issued 
an  ordinance  requiring  the  governments  of  the  different  States 
to  suppress  certain  Liberal  journals,  amongst  others  the  ' '  Ger- 
man Tribune"  and  the  " Liberal,"  edited  by  Professors  Welek- 
er  and  Von  Rotteck,  distinguished  members  of  the  Baden  legis- 
lature. The  Senate  of  Frankfort  had,  in  pursuance  of  this 
edict,  forbidden  the  circulation  of  these  papers.  Of  course, 
their  place  was  at  once  supplied  by  others,  and  a  universal 
cry  of  indignation  ran  throughout  Germany  on  account  of  the 
act  of  the  Diet  which  was  wholly  unconstitutional  and  void  in 
substance  and  form.  About  the  same  time  the  Bavarian  Field 
Marshal  Wrede,  at  the  head  of  a  large  body  of  troops,  had 
entered  Rhenish  Bavaria,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  the  mili- 
tary, Wirth,  Siebenpfeiffer  and  many  others  were  arrested. 


198  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Schueler,  Savoye  and  Geib  escaped  arrest  by  withdrawing  to 
France,  as  did  a  great  many  other  Liberals.  The  central  com- 
mittee of  the  press-union  established  itself  at  Frankfort.  The 
presses  upon  which  the  "Tribune,"  the  "Westbote"  and  other 
Liberal  papers  had  been  printed  were  taken  possession  of  by 
the  police. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  public  meetings  were  still  held, 
one  at  Wilhelmsbad,  near  Hanau,  where  some  ten  thousand 
people  met,  the  most  important  feature  of  which  was  that 
thousands  of  small  farmers  and  peasants  participated,  showing 
as  much  interest  and  enthusiasm  as  those  belonging  to  the 
higher  classes.  Another  meeting  took  place  near  Wuerzburg 
where  Doctor  Behr,  mayor  of  Wuerzburg,  made  the  principal 
speech,  which  many  members  of  the  Bavarian  legislature 
attended.  An  address  was  sent  to  the  King  himself,  in  which 
a  series  of  unconstitutional  measures,  adopted  by  his  ministers, 
were  denounced  in  clear,  logical  and  most  pointed  language, 
and  the  King  urged  to  dismiss  his  faithless  ministers.  Behr 
and  many  provincial  Liberals  were  thereupon  arrested  and 
subjected  to  criminal  prosecution. 

In  Baden,  and  Hesse-Darmstadt,  similar  popular  meet- 
ings were  held.  But  the  excitement  and  indignation  reached 
the  highest  point  when,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  June  and  the 
fifth  of  July,  1832,  the  Diet  issued  a  string  of  ordinances  at  the 
instance  of  Austria  and  Prussia,  (Prussia  being,  as  usual,  the 
mere  tool  of  Metternich,)  which  at  once  destroyed  the  guar- 
anteed sovereignty  of  all  the  other  German  States.  These  pro- 
vided that  the  legislatures  could  not  refuse  to  make  appropria- 
tions demanded  by  the  governments,  that  in  case  of  resistance, 
or  in  case  of  threatening  insurrections,  the  Diet  could  inter- 
fere and  send  military  assistance,  even  if  the  State  in  ques- 
tion did  not  call  for  such  aid ;  that  the  debates  in  the  legislative 
assemblies  and  the  publication  thereof  should  be  properly  con- 
trolled; that  no  State  should  be  allowed  to  grant  unlimited 
liberty  to  the  press ;  that  all  journals  which  had  a  revolutionary 
tendency  should  be  suppressed;  that  the  former  ordinances 


BEFORE  THE  STORM  199 

of  1819  against  the  liberty  of  teaching  and  against  associations 
of  students  should  be  strictly  enforced;  that  no  associations, 
nor  any  meetings  of  a  political  character  should  be  tolerated ; 
and  that  a  commission  should  be  appointed  by  the  Diet  to 
watch  over  the  proceedings  of  the  various  state  legislatures 
and  the  due  execution  of  these  ordinances,  and  to  report  to  the 
Diet,  so  that  additional  measures,  when  necessary,  could  be 
taken  to  secure  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  confederated  states. 

This  was  driving  things  to  the  very  verge  of  absolutism. 
The  Liberal  papers  denounced  the  ordinances,  even  the  mod- 
erate ones.  Some  of  the  most  learned  writers  on  public  law 
published  elaborate  opinions  of  these  ordinances,  showing  their 
nullity  in  both  substance  and  form.  The  most  prominent 
members  of  the  bar  in  Baden  gave  an  opinion  to  the  same 
effect.  By  a  large  majority  of  the  legislature  of  the  Electorate 
of  Hesse,  under  the  lead  of  the  distinguished  professor,  Syl- 
vester Jordan,  a  resolution  was  passed  that  the  ordinances 
were  not  binding  in  that  State.  In  some  of  the  other  legisla- 
tures similar  resolutions  were  introduced,  but  not  carried. 

In  spite  of  the  ordinances,  meetings  were  held,  condemn- 
ing the  acts  of  the  Diet  as  usurpations.  When  one  Liberal 
paper  was  suppressed,  others  started  immediately.  The  cen- 
tral committee  of  the  Press-Union  in  Frankfort  remained  in 
full  activity.  Liberal  editors  in  Frankfort  were  repeatedly 
arrested,  fined  and  imprisoned.  Not  a  day  passed  but  we 
heard  of  repressive  measures  in  the  different  state  govern- 
ments, some  of  which  would  have  readily  disobeyed  the  usurp- 
ing ordinances  of  the  Diet  if  they  had  dared,  but  could  evi- 
dently not  resist  such  powers  as  Austria  and  Prussia  com- 
bined. Other  governments  would  have  supported  even  more 
extreme  measures. 

ASSOCIATES  IN  FRANKFORT 

Having  been  away  from  Frankfort  for  more  than  three 
years,  I  had  now  become  a  comparative  stranger.  Through 
brother  Charles,  however,  I  soon  found  myself  in  congenial 


200  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

society.  Grown  up  in  the  Liberal  traditions  of  our  father's 
house,  he  was  intimately  acquainted  with  some  of  the  leading 
Liberals,  and,  in  fact,  was  one  of  the  most  active  amongst  the 
very  numerous  class  of  men  who  saw  the  only  chance  for  the 
material  and  intellectual  welfare  of  Germany  in  an  entire 
change  in  the  present  system  of  government. 

A  large  majority  of  the  bar,  including  some  of  its  most 
prominent  members,  many  noted  physicians,  many  teachers  in 
the  colleges  and  schools,  as  well  as  highly  respectable  and  well- 
to-do  merchants  and  mechanics,  were  counted  among  the  Lib- 
erals. Dr.  Gustav  Bunsen  and  Dr.  Adolph  Berehelmann,  fel- 
low-students in  Heidelberg,  had  also  returned  to  Frankfort  to 
settle.  Bunsen  had  two  brothers,  George,  who  was  at  the  head 
of  a  boys'  seminary,  and  Charles,  a  physician  of  many  years' 
standing.  Both  were  determined  Republicans.  I  soon  was 
introduced  into  their  families.  It  was  natural  in  these  excit- 
ing times  that  politics  should  form  almost  the  sole  topic  of 
conversation  and  discussion  at  all  our  social  meetings.  Nearly 
all  the  persons  I  associated  with  were  members  of  the  Press- 
Union.  There  were  no  secret  societies,  no  conspiracies;  but 
still  there  was  a  determination  on  the  part  of  many  to  share 
in  any  movement  to  bring  about  reform,  even  by  force. 

I  was  soon  made  aware  by  Gustav  Bunsen  that  there  was 
a  sort  of  inner  circle,  consisting  of  men  who  were  not  willing 
to  wait  for  an  occasion  on  which  they  might  show  their  Lib- 
eralism, but  who  were  for  making  an  occasion.  They  might  be 
called  radicals,  and  they  had  formed  connections  with  similar 
spirits  in  other  places,  principally  in  Hanau,  in  Giessen,  and 
other  towns  of  Hesse-Darmstadt;  also,  in  Stuttgart,  Cassel, 
and  Marburg  in  the  Electorate  of  Hesse;  in  Homburg  in  the 
Landgravate  of  Hesse.  Yet  even  these  more  exalted  Liberals 
had  no  secrets,  no  pass-words,  no  badges,  though  they  knew 
one  another  very  well.  With  some  of  the  Hanau  people  1 
was  already  well  acquainted,  for  Florencourt  was  there,  Span- 
genberg,  a  fellow-student,  and  George  Fein,  whom  I  had 
known  at  Munich,  who  had  been  an  assistant  editor  of  Wirth's 


BEFORE  THE  STORM  201 

"Tribune,"  and  who  had  been  banished  from  Rhenish 
Bavaria.  These  were  active  revolutionists,  and  found  in 
Hanau  a  fertile  field  for  agitation. 

Among  them  was  Dr.  Franz  Guerth.  Guerth  was  a  born 
conspirator,  and  sought  to  form  sub-societies  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  Italian  and  French  revolutionists,  groups  bound 
by  oaths,  operating  in  secret  and  unknown  to  one  another, 
each  led  by  a  member  connected  with  a  central  directing  com- 
mittee. But  he  failed  in  this  attempt,  as  Germany  is  no  soil 
for  such  organizations.  I  never  doubted,  as  some  did,  his  pure 
patriotism;  but  it  was  combined  with  a  very  strong  personal 
ambition.  His  mind  was  very  fertile;  he  loved  to  lay  great 
plans.  He  had  connections  with  the  Polish  central  committee 
at  Paris,  whose  head  at  that  time  was  the  celebrated  Lelewel ; 
he  put  himself  in  relations  of  some  kind  or  another  with  most 
of  the  Liberal  leaders  of  the  opposition  in  the  different  States, 
and  set  on  foot  a  military  conspiracy  in  Wuertemberg.  He 
was  indefatigable ;  constantly  on  the  wing ;  and  causing  meet- 
ings of  the  most  prominent  Liberals  to  be  held  at  various 
places.  He  could  make  impossible  things  appear  very  prob- 
able, and  easily  persuaded  himself  that  success  was  certain; 
and,  being  convinced  himself,  he  convinced  others.  With  all 
his  enthusiasm,  he  was  shrewd;  having  carried  on,  under  the 
eyes  of  suspicious  and  watchful  governments,  his  agitation  for 
many  months  without  discovery. 

Guerth  soon  showed  me  particular  attention.  He  had 
learned  that  I  had,  at  the  various  Universities  I  attended,  en- 
joyed the  utmost  confidence  of  the  Burschenschaft  societies; 
that  I  must  be  known  to  all  the  members  of  the  Burschen- 
schaft, at  least  by  reputation,  and  that  in  case  of  need  I  could 
exercise  considerable  influence  upon  former  and  present  mem- 
bers of  our  society. 

I  confess  that  I  was  not  very  favorably  impressed  with 
Guerth 's  personality.  There  was  a  certain  fanaticism  in  his 
eyes.  Nor  was  he  of  a  social  disposition.  In  a  word,  he  was 
not  sympathetic  to  me.  But  as  the  Bunsens  and  other 


202  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

gentlemen  of  a  very  high  character  believed  in  him,  so  did  I. 
After  April,  1833,  he  fled  to  England,  became  engaged  in  the 
legal  business,  returned  after  the  amnesty  of  1848  to  Frank- 
fort, and  wrote  works  on  English  jurisprudence,  one  of  which 
he  sent  me  to  Belleville.  I  believe  he  followed  his  profession 
peaceably  in  his  native  city. 

I  do  not  know  but  that,  owing  to  my  strong  feeling  for  the 
regeneration  of  Germany  and  my  bitter  hatred  of  all  oppres- 
sions, I  would  at  a  moment's  warning  have  joined  in  any  rev- 
olutionary outbreak.  But  Gustav  Bunsen  and  Guerth  had 
the  greatest  influence  in  making  me  a  participant  in  the  move- 
ment which  culminated  in  the  Frankfort  Attentat  of  the 
third  of  April.  It  must  be  understood  that  the  plan  of  that 
attempt  was  not  matured  until  the  end  of  the  year  1832,  and 
that  I  had  no  actual  knowledge  of  it  until  some  time  in  Feb- 
ruary of  the  next  year.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  I  had  to  un- 
dergo an  examination  by  highly  conservative  members  of  the 
courts,  I  did  not  make  myself  conspicuous  at  the  meetings, 
nor  did  I  sign  protests  or  addresses.  As  observed,  I  studied 
pretty  hard  during  the  day ;  but  in  the  evenings  I  took  a  swim 
in  the  Main  in  almost  all  kinds  of  weather,  after  which  I 
joined  our  friends  in  our  social  circle.  It  was  an  exciting 
and  highly  interesting  time,  made  still  more  pleasant  by  the 
great  tenderness  and  love  with  which  my  family  treated  me. 

Some  time  in  December,  I  was  notified  that  the  board 
of  examination  would  proceed  to  my  examination  on  a  cer- 
tain day.  I  passed  the  examination,  as  I  thought,  very  suc- 
cessfully, and  in  February  the  senate  rendered  a  decree  ad- 
mitting me  as  a  member  of  the  bar.  I  had  also  to  enroll  my- 
self in  the  National  Guards  and  I  selected  the  first  battalion 
of  the  volunteer  infantry  in  which  a  great  many  of  my  friends, 
members  of  the  bar,  and  others  already  served.  I  had  then, 
according  to  the  law,  to  take  the  oath  of  citizen  in  full 
uniform,  before  the  junior  burgomaster,  which  was  done  on 
the  22d  of  February,  1833. 


BEFORE  THE  STORM  203 

REVOLUTIONARY  PROPAGANDA 

During  the  winter  nothing  remarkable  happened,  though 
the  government  continued  to  prosecute  under  some  pre- 
text or  other  Liberal  members  of  the  different  legislatures,  and 
to  suppress  and  muzzle  opposition  journals.  But  even  before 
I  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar,  Dr.  Guerth  had  given  me  to 
understand  that  a  revolution  was  to  be  started  early  in  the 
spring,  and  that  he  wanted  me  to  help  bring  it  about;  that  I 
should  visit  Cassel  where  great  political  excitement  then  ex- 
isted, and  also  some  of  the  Universities  and  some  of  the  Bur- 
schenschaften,  to  warn  them  to  be  on  the  lookout,  and  to  head, 
or  at  least  take  a  hand  in,  the  risings  at  these  places,  as  well 
as  to  call  upon  them  to  send  some  of  their  trustiest  members 
to  Frankfort  at  a  time  to  be  appointed,  —  for  Frankfort,  be- 
ing the  seat  of  the  Diet,  was  to  give  the  signal  for  the  rising 
which  was  to  take  place  in  all  the  States  with  the  exception  of 
Austria  and  the  greatest  part  of  Prussia. 

To  satisfy  myself  of  the  truth  there  was  in  the  many  rep- 
resentations I  had  had  from  Bunsen,  Guerth  and  others,  re- 
garding the  aspect  of  political  affairs,  rather  than  to  act  as 
an  emissary,  I  undertook  the  task  which  was  so  urgently 
pressed  upon  me,  and  on  the  25th  of  February  set  out  for 
Cassel  with  letters  to  several  Liberal  leaders  there,  amongst 
whom  Professor  Sylvester  Jordan  was  by  far  the  first  and 
most  important.  This  missionary  journey,  which  lasted  from 
the  25th  of  February  to  the  17th  of  March,  I  have  described 
at  great  length  in  a  manuscript  now  amongst  my  papers,  which 
was  published  many  years  afterwards  by  Casper  Butz,  then 
of  Chicago,  in  the  "Westen,"  the  Sunday  edition  of  the  "Il- 
linois Staats  Zeitung,"  a  copy  of  which  is,  I  believe,  among 
the  packages  containing  my  writings, ' '  Schrif tliche  Arbeiten," 
of  each  year.  From  this  manuscript,  written  not  long  after 
the  events  related  in  it,  I  will  here  extract  only  the  more  im- 
portant points. 


204 


THE   SITUATION   IN   CASSEL 


The  next  day  I  arrived  at  Cassel,  the  capital  of  the  Elect- 
orate of  Hesse.  I  first  called  upon  some  of  the  leaders  of  the 
revolution  of  1830  and  soon  ascertained  that  the  whole  coun- 
try was  just  then  in  a  fever  of  excitement.  The  legislature 
had  been  dissolved  by  the  government  the  previous  fall,  be- 
cause it  had  not  sanctioned  the  ordinances  of  the  German  Diet, 
and  had,  in  other  respects,  disagreed  with  the  government. 
It  had  met  again  a  short  time  before,  but  the  government  had 
asked  to  exclude  Professor  Jordan,  who  had  been  elected  by 
the  University  of  Marburg  and  to  whom  the  ministry  had  re- 
fused to  grant  leave  of  absence.  The  legislature  insisted  that 
under  the  constitution  Jordan  was  entitled  to  his  seat ;  another 
dissolution  was  threatened.  The  persons  I  communicated  with 
were  men  of  great  influence  with  the  middle  and  laboring 
classes.  They  were  members  of  the  National  Guards,  and  they 
assured  me  that  if  another  dissolution  should  take  place,  and 
Jordan  should  give  the  signal,  the  legislature  would  stay  as 
a  convention  and  defy  the  Elector  and  Prince  Regent,  who 
actually  carried  on  the  government.  During  the  few  days  I 
stayed  at  Cassel,  I  went  with  friends  to  several  public  places 
where  I  met  people  of  all  classes,  public  employees,  officers  of 
the  army,  citizens  of  every  profession  and  trade,  and  I  heard 
no  other  talk  but  politics  and  a  general  expression  of  dissatis- 
faction with  the  government  and  threats  of  open  revolution. 

DR.  SYLVESTER  JORDAN 

My  main  business,  however,  was  with  Professor  Jordan 
himself.  Dr.  Sylvester  Jordan  was  a  native  of  Tyrol.  Having 
studied  law  at  Bavarian  universities,  he  was  as  early  as  1821, 
a  lecturer  on  public  law  in  Heidelberg,  but  was  soon  called  to 
the  University  of  Marburg.  He  at  once  made  himself  known 
as  a  very  eloquent  and  learned  jurist,  wrote  several  treatises, 
particularly  on  criminal  law,  and  was  elected  by  the  Univers- 
ity as  a  member  of  the  constitutional  assembly  that  made  the 
constitution  of  1831,  one  of  the  most  liberal  in  Germany  at 


BEFOKE  THE  STORM  205 

that  time.  Jordan  had  been  the  main  author  of  the  instru- 
ment and  when  elected  a  member  of  the  legislature  in  1832 
he  took  the  lead  in  the  Liberal  party ;  in  fact,  was  looked  upon 
as  the  head  and  front  of  the  Liberals  in  the  Electorate,  and  had 
become  known  all  over  Germany  as  one  of  the  great  lights  of 
that  movement. 

I  had  a  letter  from  Dr.  Franz  Guerth  for  him,  but  I  was 
to  ascertain  from  him  independently  the  state  of  public  feel- 
ing in  his  country  and  to  form  a  judgment  as  to  how  far  the 
people  could  be  relied  on  in  case  of  an  emergency.  I  took  the 
precaution  not  to  tell  even  the  most  pronounced  Liberals  that 
I  would  visit  Jordan,  nor  did  I  enter  my  name  on  the  register 
of  the  ' '  King  of  Prussia, ' '  the  hotel  where  I  stopped,  although 
it  had  been  presented  to  me  by  a  hotel  waiter.  And  this  was 
rather  fortunate  for  Jordan.  Several  years  later  he  was  ar- 
rested and  imprisoned  on  the  charge  of  having  been  an  acces- 
sory to  the  Frankfort  emeute  of  the  third  of  April.  The  trial 
lasted  through  five  years.  He  was  found  guilty  of  high  treason, 
as  having  known  of  the  conspiracy  and  having  encouraged  it, 
by  the  court  of  first  instance,  and  condemned  to  five  years' 
imprisonment  in  a  fortress.  But  the  court  of  appeals  reversed 
the  judgment  and  acquitted  him.  In  the  course  of  the  trial,  the 
proceedings  of  which  excited  great  interest  all  over  Germany 
and  were  printed  and  published,  the  greatest  effort  had  been 
made  to  connect  Jordan  with  persons  who  actually  had  par- 
ticipated in  the  emeute,  but  in  this  the  prosecution  failed. 
Now  the  published  report  of  the  commission  appointed  by  the 
German  Diet  who  tried  the  persons  accused  of  having  been  in 
the  emeute  traced  me  in  my  travels  prior  to  the  third  of  April 
to  almost  every  place  I  had  been,  except  Cassel.  Had  the 
trial  court  found  out  that  I  was  there  a  few  weeks  previous, 
and  had  had  an  interview  with  Professor  Jordan,  it  would 
have  been  a  very  aggravating  circumstance  and  might  have 
changed  the  judgment  of  the  higher  court. 

Jordan  was  a  man  of  powerful  frame.  His  features  were 
somewhat  rough  and  did  not  at  first  show  the  intellectual  force 


206  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

which  he  undoubtedly  possessed.  Wanning  up,  however,  in 
conversation,  his  eyes  became  very  expressive.  He  spoke  with 
an  openness  and  want  of  restraint  which  at  once  reminded  me 
of  his  southern  nativity.  His  young  wife,  whom  he  had  just 
married,  was  present,  but  he  told  me  not  to  mind  her  as  she 
was  fully  cognizant  of  all  his  sentiments  and  all  his  plans. 
He  had  a  general  idea  of  our  plans  in  Frankfort.  He  was 
certain,  he  said,  that  the  government  would  again  dissolve 
the  legislature,  that  in  that  case  he  had  no  doubt  the  people 
would  sustain  the  legislature,  and  would  be  prepared  to  join 
any  general  uprising  in  Germany.  Many  members  of  the 
assembly  were  as  determined  as  he  was,  and  even  in  the  army 
many  officers,  and  some  of  the  highest  rank,  would  stand  by 
the  constitution.  Jordan  was  not  mistaken  about  the  spirit 
of  the  army;  for  later  (1851)  nearly  all  the  officers  declared 
themselves  bound  by  their  oaths  to  support  the  constitution 
and  disobeyed  the  orders  of  the  commander-in-chief. 

IN  GOETTINGEN. 

I  left  Cassel  on  February  27th  for  Goettingen,  being 
pretty  well  convinced  that  Electoral  Hesse  could  be  counted 
on,  if  at  any  place  in  Germany  a  popular  rising,  promising 
success  even  for  a  short  time,  took  place,  and  that  Jordan 
would  not  hesitate,  if  called  upon,  to  join  other  distinguished 
leaders  in  forming  a  provisional  government.  Arrived  at 
Goettingen,  I  at  once  gathered  my  old  friends  around  me, 
Von  Rochau,  Alban,  and  Gaiser,  my  fellow-students  from 
Jena,  all  determined  to  sacrifice  everything  for  the  freedom  of 
Germany.  They  were  ready  the  moment  they  would  be  called 
upon,  which  would  be  soon.  To  Rochau  I  communicated  all 
I  knew  myself,  and  left  it  to  his  judgment  how  to  act. 

August  Ludwig  Von  Rochau  was  an  enthusiastic  youth, 
actuated  by  the  highest  principles,  of  a  fiery  temper  and  brave 
as  a  lion,  tall  and  graceful,  with  reddish  hair,  large  blue  eyes 
and  regular  features.  On  the  fourth  of  April  in  the  after- 
noon, an  hour  of  two  after  I  passed  through  Darmstadt,  he 


BEFORE  THE  STORM  207 

was  arrested  there,  resisted  with  all  his  might,  and  finally 
stabbed  himself.  But  he  recovered  from  his  wound,  and  was 
kept  in  prison  at  Frankfort  during  his  trial,  for  several  years. 
He  was  condemned  to  imprisonment  for  life,  but  broke  out 
the  day  after  the  sentence  was  passed  upon  him.  He  lived  in 
France  and  Switzerland  as  an  exile  until  the  revolution  of 
1848  enabled  him  to  return  to  Germany.  He  settled  in  Heidel- 
berg, and  became  distinguished  as  a  historian  and  publicist. 
His  work  on  ' '  Practical  Politics ' '  has  taken  high  rank  in  Ger- 
man literature. 

Thankmar  Alban  was  another  very  noble  student.  Tall 
and  finely  molded,  yet  very  muscular,  his  dark  eyes  con- 
trasted with  his  clear  complexion.  He  was  a  fine  swordsman 
and  gymnast,  and  knew  not  fear.  Arrested  at  Frankfort  on 
the  night  of  the  third  of  April,  he  was  confined,  during  his 
trial,  in  a  cell  at  the  guard-house  of  the  constables.  On  the 
second  of  May,  1834,  he  succeeded  in  sawing  through  the  bars 
of  his  window,  and,  letting  himself  down  with  a  rope  made 
out  of  his  bed  clothes,  escaped.  He  went  to  Switzerland,  con- 
tinued his  studies  at  the  University  of  Zuerich,  and  settled  as 
a  practicing  physician  in  the  canton  of  Bern,  where  he  died. 

I  was  also  introduced  to  several  civilians  in  Goettingen, 
all  members  of  the  Press-Union.  There  was  much  dissatisfac- 
tion in  Hanover.  Dr.  Koenig  and  Dr.  Freytag  were  still  in 
close  confinement,  accused  of  having  been  implicated  in  the 
revolution  of  1831.  They  were  highly  respected  and  highly 
intelligent,  and  the  severe  prosecution  against  them  was  gen- 
erally condemned.  There  were  several  Press-Unions  in  Han- 
over and  they  were  extending  through  the  country.  But  the 
opposition  was  confined  principally  to  the  higher  and  middle 
classes.  The  nobility  and  the  officers  had  still  an  immense  in- 
fluence in  Hanover,  and  owing  to  their  English  government, 
there  existed  there  a  strong  feeling  of  state  sovereignty  and 
an  old  Guelph  spirit. 

I  spent  a  few  days  in  Goettingen  very  pleasantly.  Mr. 
Bethmann,  the  owner  of  the  first  hotel  there,  "The  Crown," 


208  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

was  a  great  Liberal.     He  gave  me  and  my  friends  a  splendid 
champagne  breakfast. 

LIBERALISM  IN  SAXONT 

On  the  third  of  March  my  friends  brought  me  in  a  car- 
riage to  Heiligenstadt,  where  I  had  to  take  the  stage  to  Halle 
and  Leipsic.  We  had  a  hearty  shaking  of  hands,  and  with  the 
words,  "We  will  meet  in  Phillippi,"  I  bade  them  adieu.  My 
stay  in  Halle  was  short,  as  I  had  to  take  the  next  stage  for 
Leipsic.  Some  friends  I  should  like  to  have  seen,  I  did  not 
find  at  home.  In  the  evening  I  reached  Leipsic.  Here  I  found 
some  of  my  old  university  friends  and  was  also  introduced  to 
the  leading  Liberals.  They  were  nearly  all  literary  men,  most- 
ly journalists.  Press-Unions  and  similar  societies,  I  was  in- 
formed, existed  throughout  the  kingdom,  particularly  in  Dres- 
den, the  capital.  I  also  learned  that  a  good  many  Polish  offi- 
cers, in  accordance  with  orders  from  the  Polish  committee  in 
Paris,  had  already  either  clandestinely  returned  to  Poland,  or 
were  near  the  frontier,  to  stir  up  a  rising  there  as  soon  as 
-there  would  be  an  outbreak  in  Germany.  At  the  table  d'hote 
of  the  Hotel  de  Cologne,  one  of  the  first  hotels  in  Leipsic,  the 
conversation  upon  politics  was  exceedingly  free.  The  most 
decided  liberalism  was  openly  preached.  But  the  distance 
from  talking  to  action  is  greater  than  is  generally  believed, 
particularly  amongst  the  Germans.  It  was  somewhat  different 
with  the  unreflecting  races  of  Gallic  and  Celtic  origin. 

Dr.  Burckhardt,  who  had  written  historical  works  and  who 
was  lecturing  to  the  general  public  on  modern  German  his- 
tory, was  an  old  friend  of  mine,  and  while  he  was  satisfied 
that  the  opposition  to  the  government  in  Saxony  was  very 
strong,  he  did  not  think  that  any  independent  action  could 
be  expected.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  Liberals  had  at  that 
time  no  leader  of  eminence  in  Saxony.  One  of  the  most  in- 
teresting persons  I  became  acquainted  with  was  the  publicist, 
Dr.  Spazier,  very  favorably  known  by  his  "History  of  Po- 


BEFORE  THE  STORM  209 

land."  He  was  a  great  talker,  and  his  conversation  was  so 
lively  as  to  be  almost  oppressive. 

In  my  narrative  of  these  propaganda  trips,  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing lines  when  at  Leipsic:  "I  was  looking  over  a  Leipsie 
journal.  One  may  imagine  the  alarm  I  felt  when  reading  the 
following  taken  from  the  'Frankfort  Journal:'  'Yesterday 
Dr.  Breidenstein  and  a  Pole,  who  had  been  enjoying  his  hos- 
pitality for  some  time,  were  suddenly  arrested  at  Homburg. 
The  cause  is  said  to  be  a  treasonable  conspiracy. '  Dr.  Breiden- 
stein was  a  young  physician  who  had  served  as  such  in  the 
Polish  army.  I  did  not  know  him  nor  the  Pole  personally, 
but  only  by  reputation.  I  was  aware,  however,  that  both 
knew  of  our  plans  and  were  personally  assisting  in  carrying 
them  out.  Dr.  Breidenstein  had  very  great  influence  in  that 
region  of  country,  and  the  Polish  officer  was  a  man  of  ability 
and  bravery.  The  ground  upon  which  we  stood  became  grad- 
ually more  treacherous.  Every  hour,  every  minute,  we  must 
expect  to  be  swallowed  up,  and  perhaps  even,  what  was  most 
to  be  regretted,  before  resolution  had  ripened  into  action." 

Both  Dr.  Breidenstein  and  Seylling,  the  Polish  officer, 
broke  jail  in  Homburg  before  the  third  of  April,  and  fled,  I 
believe,  to  France.  A  brother  of  Dr.  Breidenstein  was  with 
the  crowd  that  came  from  Bonames  and  Homburg  the  night 
of  the  third  of  April,  but  found  the  gates  closed  and  the  con- 
flict over.  Both  the  Breidensteins  were  excellent  and  very 
patriotic  young  men,  sons  of  the  ecclesiastical  superintendent 
and  court-preacher,  Von  Breidenstein,  who  held  the  highest 
clerical  dignity  in  the  landgravate.  The  small  garrison  of 
Homburg  had  been  won  over  and  several  of  them  were  with 
Breidenstein  and  George  Neuhoff  on  the  third  of  April.  Neu- 
hoff  joined  us  in  Illinois,  as  did  Frederick  Kempff;  both  were 
surgeons  in  the  Homburg  contingent. 

On  the  fifth  of  March  I  left  Leipsic  for  Altenburg.  There 
I  was  at  once  amongst  a  large  circle  of  Jena  friends.  Wil- 
helm  Weber  was  at  home,  but  expected  to  resume  his  duties 
at  Leipsic  at  the  commencement  of  the  summer  session.  The 


210  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Liberal  party  of  Altenburg  was  very  strong.  There  was  in  the 
city  a  large  Press-Union  and  similar  unions  existed  in  the 
country.  One  of  the  principal  leaders  was  Dr.  Rittler,  highly 
esteemed  as  a  citizen  and  as  a  physician.  He  also  became  an 
exile  and  came  over  to  New  York,  where  he  soon  acquired  a 
high  standing.  I  found  him  very  determined,  as  much  so  as 
William  Weber.  He  had  connections  with  Liberals  in  Leipsic, 
Dresden  and  other  points  in  the  Kingdom  of  Saxony  and 
seemed  to  be  satisfied  that  on  a  general  rising  the  people  in 
Saxony  and  the  Saxon  dukedoms  would  not  be  wanting.  We 
talked  much  of  our  dear  friend  Koehler,  who  had  gone  as  a 
physician  to  Poland,  had  been  taken  prisoner,  but  having 
been  released,  died  at  Kalisch  of  typhoid  fever,  in  the  arms 
of  Gustav  Bunsen,  who  had  also  gone  to  Poland.  I  spent 
several  days  at  Altenburg  in  a  highly  interesting  manner.  I 
left  my  warm  friends  with  much  regret.  My  next  stopping 
place  was  dear  old  Jena.  I  arrived  at  midnight  in  a  heavy 
snowstorm,  and  took  lodgings  at  the  "Sun,"  on  the  south 
side  of  the  market  place. 

AFFAIRS  IN  JENA.      FRITZ  REUTER 

Thousands  of  remembrances  crowded  upon  my  niind.  I 
found  only  a  few  of  my  old  friends  there.  Although  vacation 
was  yet  some  weeks  off,  Jena  was  almost  deserted  by  the  stu- 
dents. I  have  already  spoken  of  the  dissensions  of  the  Ger- 
mania  and  the  Arminia.  For  some  reason  or  other,  in  Jan- 
uary or  February,  the  enmity  between  the  two  societies  had 
increased.  Collisions  and  fights  had  occurred  in  the  public 
streets,  and  on  one  occasion  a  real  battle  had  taken  place. 
Many  had  teen  wounded  and  one  killed.  Other  student  so- 
cieties also  had  had  trouble  with  the  authorities.  The  Weimar 
government  had  sent  some  companies  of  soldiers  into  the 
town,  which  was  considered  an  infringement  upon  academ- 
ical liberty,  and  when  the  troops  entered  a  great  many  stu- 
dents left  Jena,  temporarily  at  least. 


BEFORE  THE  STORM  211 

Amongst  these  was  Fritz  Renter,  to  whom  only  a  short 
time  ago,  July,  1888,  a  splendid  monument  was  erected  in 
the  wall  promenade  at  Jena,  and  whose  name  is  written  in 
the  hearts  of  all  Germans.  It  is  hard  to  tell  in  what  his  great- 
ness as  a  poet  consists.  But  whoever  reads  him  will  at  once 
say  "This  is  a  poet."  A  deep  insight  into  human  nature,  a 
warm  sympathy  with  all  mankind  and  even  with  all  nature 
living  or  dead,  a  most  genial  and  humorous  spirit,  combined 
with  an  incomparable  power  of  plastic  representation,  have 
made  Fritz  Reuter  the  poet  of  the  German  people.  Victor 
Von  Scheffel  has  been  compared  to  Reuter  and  has  even  been 
placed  above  him  by  some.  Some  lines  in  their  lives  run  par- 
allel, and  some  lyrics  of  Scheffel  are  charming.  But  he  is  a 
mere  comet,  who  has  created  a  momentary  sensation.  Reuter 
is  a  fixed  luminary,  which  warms,  delights  and  fructifies  our 
earth. 

Reuter  had,  while  I  was  in  Jena,  taken  up  his  residence 
at  Camburg.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Germania,  but 
was  not  implicated  in  the  late  disturbances.  He  had  by  no 
means  been  a  leader  in  that  society,  and  was  too  much  of  a 
gay  and  jovial  student  to  trouble  himself  much  about  politics. 
He  did  not  return  to  Jena,  but  went  home  to  Mecklenburg, 
and  stayed  there  until  the  fall,  when,  on  his  journey  to  Leip- 
sic,  where  he  intended  to  pursue  his  studies,  he  was  arrested 
in  Berlin,  kept  in  close  confinement  during  his  trial  for  three 
years,  accused,  on  the  sole  ground  of  having  been  a  harmless 
member  of  the  Germania,  of  an  attempt  at  high  treason,  and 
sentenced  to  death.  By  the  grace  of  the  King  of  Prussia  the 
sentence  was  commuted  to  imprisonment  in  a  fortress  for 
thirty  years.  In  the  year  1840,  at  the  instance  of  the  Duke 
of  Mecklenburg,  he  was  sent  to  Mecklenburg  and  there  con- 
fined, but  very  gently  treated,  until  by  the  amnesty  of  1848, 
granted  by  Frederick  William  IV  on  his  taking  the  throne, 
he  was  liberated.  His  volume,  "Ut  mine  Festungstid, "  tells  of 
his  sufferings. 


212  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

In  his  instance  there  were  the  most  barefaced  violations 
of  all  laws  on  the  part  of  the  Prussian  court.  To  construe 
mere  membership  in  such  a  society  as  the  Germania,  (when 
no  act  had  been  done  by  him,  and  when  there  was  not  the 
slightest  proof  that  he  even  knew  of  the  outbreak  at  Frank- 
fort, and  while  not  a  single  Jena  student  was  then  present, 
though  some,  who  had  been  years  before  at  that  University, 
were,)  into  an  attempt  to  commit  treason,  was  in  itself  an 
outrage.  There  existed  at  that  time  no  law  of  the  Bund 
against  high  treason,  but  the  offense  was  defined  in  the  laws 
of  every  single  State.  If  then  he  had  joined  the  Germania  at 
Jena  the  courts  of  Saxe-Weimar  were  the  only  ones  that  had 
jurisdiction  over  him ;  if  he  had  intended  to  subvert  the  Wei- 
mar government  and  had  been  a  citizen  of  Weimar,  his  being 
a  member  of  the  Germania  might  have  been  considered  as  an 
attempt  to  revolutionize  Mecklenburg,  to  which,  as  a  native, 
he  owed  obedience,  and  then  the  courts  of  that  State  would 
have  had  to  judge  him.  Indeed,  that  government  claimed  him 
from  Prussia.  But  that  Prussia,  a  State  to  which  he  was  a 
stranger  and  owed  no  fealty,  on  his  traveling  through  Berlin, 
should  have  arrested,  tried,  and  sentenced  him,  was  such  a 
palpable  violation  of  the  law  as  to  cast  an  indelible  stain  on 
the  Prussian  court  and  government.  No  one  can  read  his  nar- 
ration, disclosing  the  unspeakable  mental  and  physical  tor- 
ture hundreds  of  highly  educated  young  men  had  to  undergo, 
whose  moral  conduct  had  been  above  reproach,  without  justi- 
fying the  attempts  made  to  overthrow  such  guilty  govern- 
ments at  the  risk  of  life  and  liberty.  "Ut  mine  Festungstid" 
has  branded  forever  the  Prussian  government  of  that  time  as 
one  of  the  most  infamous  that  ever  existed. 

I  found,  however,  in  Jena,  a  few  old  fellow-students  with 
whom  I  soon  arranged  things  to  my  satisfaction. 

THE  CAUSE  IN  BAVARIA 

It  was  still  snowing  when  I  left  that  town  on  the  13th 
of  March,  for  Coburg.  The  snow  in  the  Thuringian  Moun- 


BEFORE  THE  STORM  213 

tains  was  so  high  that  for  some  stages  we  were  obliged  to 
travel  in  sleighs.  Friends  I  intended  to  meet  in  Coburg  were 
absent;  so  I  immediately  hired  a  carriage  and  went  to  Bam- 
berg.  Dr.  Heinkelmann,  my  friend  from  Erlangen  and  Jena, 
himself  a  radical  Liberal,  had  always  been  a  very  cool-headed 
man  and  looked  at  things  as  they  were.  He  represented  our 
cause  as  very  weak  in  Bamberg  itself.  The  strong  measures 
against,  the  press,  the  heavy  sentences  passed  upon  editors  and 
printers,  had  frightened  the  people  of  old  Bamberg,  whose 
Liberalism  had  never  been  very  warm.  The  Press-Union,  hav- 
ing been  forbidden  by  heavy  penalties,  had  been  abandoned. 
The  Liberal  spirit  was  stronger  in  the  neighborhood.  A  plan 
had  been  laid  to  bring  the  small  but  strong  fortress  of  Kro- 
nach,  which  was  well  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunitions, 
into  our  power  at  the  first  signal.  A  part  of  the  garrison  was 
in  the  movement.  It  was  destined  to  be  a  rallying  place  for 
the  people  ready  to  join  us  from  the  Thuringian  and  Pine 
Mountains.  Nuremberg,  Anspach,  Bayreuth,  were  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  in  all  of  these  places  we  had  many  friends 
of  our  cause. 

After  a  short  stay  I  took  the  stage  to  "Wuerzburg.  At 
the  drawbridge  of  the  fortress  my  passport  was  demanded, 
for  it  was  here  I  first  entered  Bavaria.  It  was  taken  up 
against  my  protest,  with  the  promise,  however,  that  it  would 
be  sent  back  to  me  from  the  police  court  to  my  hotel  in  half 
an  hour.  Considering  that  I  was  still  under  a  sentence  of 
four  weeks'  imprisonment  by  the  Munich  police  court,  I 
felt  some  little  anxiety  at  being  arrested,  should  my  passport 
be  critically  examined  at  the  police  bureau;  but  I  find  the 
following  note  in  my  manuscript  narrative  of  this  journey: 
"The  German  police  visees  passes  between  eight  and  nine 
o'clock  at  night.  Such  unusual  activity  made  me  a  little  sick. 
If  our  government  begins  to  govern  even  in  the  night-time  — 
poor  Germany,  what  is  to  become  of  you?" 

I  soon  found  many  old  friends  at  Wuerzburg.  Wislizenus 
was  a  fellow-student  from  Jena.  Pfretzchner,  from  Kronach, 


214  MEMOIRS  OF  GTJSTAVE  KOERNER 

and  Von  Weltz,  from  Kelheim,  I  had  known  in  Erlangen  and 
Munich.  Wislizenus  came  to  the  United  States,  and  we  will 
meet  him  again.  Karl  Pfretzchner,  who  had  influential  re- 
lations in  Bavaria,  and  in  some  way  or  another  was  not  im- 
prisoned very  long,  abandoned  his  profession  as  a  lawyer, 
became  a  very  wealthy  banker  and  manufacturer,  having 
branches  of  his  business  (hardware)  in  Chicago,  and  we  re- 
mained in  friendly  correspondence  for  a  long  while,  he  act- 
ing for  men  in  Germany  in  some  financial  matters.  He  died 
only  a  short  time  ago.  Rubener  was  taken  prisoner  on  the 
night  of  the  third  of  April,  bleeding  from  nine  wounds,  as 
he  desperately  defended  himself.  In  trying  to  escape  from 
the  Constables'  Guard-House  in  May,  1834,  the  rope  on  which 
he  let  himself  down  broke  and  he  unfortunately  fell  so  as  to 
break  his  skull.  This  was  the  official  version.  Another  was 
that  he  was  killed  by  soldiers,  while  he  lay  helpless  on  the 
ground.  He  was  a  very  handsome,  noble  young  fellow,  in- 
tellectual and  amiable,  but  of  a  fiery  spirit.  Another  of  my 
Wuerzburg  friends,  Bernhardt  Licius,  taken  prisoner  on  the 
third  of  April,  broke  jail  as  early  as  October,  1833. 

In  a  very  few  words  everything  was  understood.  Every 
member  of  the  Burschenschaft  would  act  as  desired,  and  a 
large  delegation  would  go  to  Frankfort  at  the  time  appointed. 
The  spirit  of  the  citizens  of  Wuerzburg,  which  at  one  time 
had  been  at  fever  heat,  had  cooled  down  considerably.  The 
formerly  so  popular  Burgomaster  Behr  was  in  close  confine- 
ment in  the  Frohnfeste  at  Munich.  Eisenmann  and  Widmann, 
the  editors  of  the  opposition  papers,  were  also  incarcerated. 
The  King  had  removed  the  court  of  appeal  for  the  Franconian 
Provinces  to  Aschaffenburg,  which  had  caused  the  withdrawal 
of  many  employees  and  the  principal  members  of  the  bar 
from  Wuerzburg.  The  distinguished  professor  of  medicine, 
Dr.  Schoenlein,  had  been  compelled  to  flee  to  escape  arrest. 
He  became  professor  of  medicine  at  the  new  University  of 
Ziirich. 


BEFORE  THE  STORM  215 

Still  the  opposition  amongst  the  people  was  only  sub- 
dued by  force,  and  it  was  sure  to  revive  if  an  opportunity 
offered.  On  my  return  journey  to  Frankfort  in  the  fast  stage, 
I  met  a  young  gentleman  who  had  been  studying  pharmacy, 
and  who  in  conversation  told  me  that  he  intended  to  go  to 
the  United  States  shortly.  His  name  was  Pingret  and  he  was 
from  Rhenish  Bavaria.  I  had  then  no  idea  that  I  would  cross 
the  ocean  with  him  in  a  few  months  on  the  good  bark  Logan. 


CHAPTER  X 

The  Third  of  April,  1833 

"Wer  die  Folgen  angstlich  zuvor  erwagt, 
Der  beugt  sich  wo  sich  die  Uebermacht  regt. ' ' 

Arrived  on  the  17th  of  March  at  Frankfort,  I  found  that 
our  friends  had  been  very  active.  Dr.  Gustav  Bunsen  had 
provided  arms  and  ammunition,  Dr.  Guerth  had  held  meet- 
ings with  some  of  the  Liberal  leaders  in  different  places  in 
Hesse  and  Wuertemberg,  where  measures  were  taken  for  a 
simultaneous  rising.  To  the  most  prominent  agitators,  Guerth, 
Bunsen  and  Dr.  Juris  Neuhoff,  a  brother  of  George  Neuhoff, 
I  reported  the  results  of  my  journey.  While  many  promises 
had  been  made,  I  did  not  fail  to  observe  that  they  could  not 
all  be  relied  upon.  Yet  we  had  to  act,  and  even  if  we  failed 
(as  I  always  believed  we  should) ,  and  even  if  we  should  perish, 
it  would  not  be  in  vain.  It  was  to  be  manifested  that  there 
were  at  least  a  few  thousand  men  in  Germany  that  were  will- 
ing to  do  more  than  to  protest  and  then  to  submit,  and  who 
were  ready  to  sacrifice  their  all  to  bring  about  unity  and  lib- 
erty. No  act  done  from  pure  motives  and  for  a  good  object 
fails  to  have  important  consequences.  I  am  sure  that  amongst 
the  many  hundreds  who  acted  directly  or  indirectly  in  this 
rising  at  Frankfort  there  were  not  more  than  could  be  counted 
on  one's  fingers  who  had  any  selfish  motive,  except  the  ambi- 
tious one  to  become  martyrs. 

At  Dr.  Guerth 's  I  met  a  young  gentleman  who  had  come 
from  Leipsic  to  get  more  accurate  information  about  our 
project.  He  was  then  a  student  at  that  place.  It  was  Edward 
Tittmann,  of  Dresden,  of  a  distinguished  family,  tall,  but 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  217 

strongly  formed.  His  features  were  regular  and  his  large 
blue  eyes  suited  admirably  his  light  blond  hair.  In  fact,  he 
was  the  very  picture  of  the  ideal  German  youth.  I  took  a 
great  deal  of  interest  in  him,  though  we  were  together  only 
a  few  hours.  I  could  not  foresee  how  soon  we  should  meet 
again  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean,  and  how  close  our  friend- 
ship would  become.  After  the  events  at  Frankfort  there  was 
no  safety  for  him  any  more  in  Germany.  His  older  brother 
Charles  was  as  much  implicated  as  he  was,  and  both  having 
sacrificed  the  finest  prospects  in  life,  left  their  native  land, 
went  first  to  Switzerland,  then  to  New  York,  and  about  1836 
or  1837  joined  us  in  Belleville  and  soon  became  closely  con- 
nected with  our  family  by  friendship  and  marriage. 

PLANS  OF  THE  REVOLUTIONISTS 

I  did  not  remain  at  Frankfort  long.  I  was  urgently  re- 
quested to  go  to  Metz,  where  Frederick  Sehueler  lived  in  ex- 
ile. His  high  character,  his  great  popularity  in  Rhenish 
Bavaria,  his  eminent  talents  had  pointed  him  out  as  one  of 
the  men  who  should,  in  case  of  success,  become  at  least  tem- 
porarily a  member  of  the  provisional  government.  He,  Jor- 
dan, Von  Itzstein,  Von  Rotteck,  Von  Klosen,  Count  Bentzel- 
Sternau,  were  to  be  proclaimed  a  provisional  government. 
They  were  to  call  all  the  Liberal  members  of  the  different  leg- 
islatures of  Germany  together  as  a  preliminary  Parliament, 
which,  when  assembled,  should  order  elections  for  a  constituent 
assembly,  which  should  establish  either  a  republic  of  the 
whole  nation,  or  a  confederate  one,  or,  if  the  sense  of  the 
people  demanded  it,  a  constitutional  monarchy.  It  will  be 
seen  that  our  plan  was  in  outline  what  happened  in  Germany 
in  1848.  A  few  Liberal  leaders  got  together,  summoned  all 
the  distinguished  Liberals  to  Frankfort,  who  formed  a  Vor- 
Parlment,  which  in  turn  called  elections  for  the  real  Par- 
liament. 

I  may  anticipate  here  in  what  the  weakness  of  our  plan 
consisted.  In  1848  the  French  Revolution  and  the  establish- 


218 

merit  of  a  republic  in  France  had  spread  such  terror  among 
the  continental  governments  that  they  were  at  first  dumfound- 
ed  and  did  not  dare  to  oppose  the  first  steps  taken  by  the  Lib- 
eral leaders.  But  in  1833  the  governments  had  gotten  over 
the  fear  which  had  first  seized  them  after  the  July  Revolu- 
tion. In  order  to  gain  time  for  even  the  first  step,  it  was  in- 
dispensably necessary  to  hold  Frankfort  for  at  least  a  week 
or  so.  But  we  had  no  regular  troops  to  rely  on.  A  few 
hundred  bold  young  men,  (even  if,  as  could  reasonably  be 
expected,  some  few  hundreds  from  the  neighboring  cities  and 
towns  would  join  them,)  could  not  cope  with  the  strong  bat- 
talion of  the  Frankfort  line  troops  and  the  three  or  four  bat- 
talions of  the  National  Guard.  True,  some  of  the  latter  were 
ready  to  join  us;  many  would  not  have  turned  out  against 
us ;  and  the  two  artillery  companies  would  have  fought  mainly 
on  our  side,  as  their  major  and  other  officers  were  already 
engaged  with  us.  But  the  great  majority  of  the  National 
Guard  would  have  been  against  us.  To  be  sure,  there  was  a 
great  mass  of  working  men,  laborers  and  people  from  other 
places  in  the  city,  who  were  generally  disposed  to  take 
part  in  any  outbreak ;  but  to  organize,  arm  and  control  them, 
within  a  day  or  two,  was  out  of  the  question.  Besides,  there 
were,  within  twenty-five  miles,  at  the  great  fortress  of  May- 
ence,  several  regiments  of  Austrians  (Bohemians)  and  Prus- 
sians and  also  some  battalions  of  Hessians,  in  addition  to 
artillery  and  cavalry,  who  could  reach  Frankfort  in  half  a 
day.  Nor  had  we  any  well  known  military  leader.  True,  we 
had  two  or  three  Polish  colonels,  or  majors,  —  brave  and  ex- 
perienced soldiers,  but  strangers  to  all  but  a  few  of  us. 

Some  of  us  believed  that  we  should  at  once  have  several 
thousand  Frankfort  people  with  us,  and  three  or  four  thou- 
sand from  the  neighboring  cities  and  towns.  But  even  if 
this  had  been  so,  unless  some  organization  were  formed  among 
them,  they  would  have  been  no  match  for  a  few  battalions  of 
regulars  with  their  batteries. 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  219 

I,  therefore,  was  to  see  Schueler,  give  him  the  details  of 
our  plans,  and,  if  possible,  ascertain  whether  he  would  place 
himself  at  once  at  the  head  of  our  movement.  I  consented 
the  more  willingly  to  take  this  journey,  as  it  gave  me  an  op- 
portunity to  see  again  and  bid  a  final  adieu  to  the  Engel- 
manns  at  Imsbach,  which  was  only  a  short  distance  from  the 
great  road  to  Metz,  the  ' '  Kaiserstrasse, "  built  by  the  first 
Napoleon,  and  connecting  by  a  most  excellent  chaussee  Paris 
with  Mayence.  I  had  carried  on,  while  in  Frankfort,  with 
some  of  the  family,  a  lively  correspondence,  and  when  they 
finally  determined  to  emigrate  to  the  United  States,  early 
in  1833,  I  had  promised  to  see  them  before  their  departure. 
Edward  Kohloff,  an  old  university  friend  of  mine,  then  a 
teacher  in  George  Bunsen  's  seminary,  and  also  a  warm  friend 
of  Theodore  Engelmann,  having  often  visited  the  family  be- 
fore, went  with  me  as  far  as  the  station  near  Imsbach,  while 
I  continued  on  my  way  to  Metz,  postponing  my  visit  until 
my  return  trip. 

I  arrived  at  Saarbruecken  late  in  the  evening  of  the  24th 
of  March,  having  left  Frankfort  on  the  evening  before.  I 
had  to  wait  some  hours  there  for  the  stage  for  Metz.  At  For- 
baeh,  the  first  French  town,  our  baggage  was  rigorously  ex- 
amined by  the  custom-house  officers  and  our  passports  by  the 
gens  d'  armes.  I  found  the  place  full  of  soldiers.  Another 
similar  visitation  took  place  at  St.  Avoid,  and  I  again  saw 
many  soldiers.  Although  rather  early  in  the  spring,  I  found 
the  country  looking  quite  beautiful ;  and  not  having  slept  for 
two  nights,  I  was  just  putting  myself  into  a  comfortable  po- 
sition for  a  nap,  when  I  was  startled  by  a  most  surprising 
incident.  Though  traveling  very  fast,  I  had  just  espied 
walking  along  the  footpath  by  the  road,  Theodore  Engel- 
mann, knapsack  on  shoulder.  I  immediately  made  the  con- 
ductor stop,  jumped  out  and  took  him  by  the  arm  and  made 
him  mount  the  stage.  I  exchanged  my  inside  seat  with  a 
passenger  on  the  outside,  and  seated  Theodore  beside  me,  so 
that  we  could  converse  at  full  liberty.  All  this  was  against 


220  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  rule  of  the  road;  but  I  spoke  so  commandingly,  told  the 
conductor  that  I  would  make  it  all  right  at  the  next  station, 
that  he  had  to  yield  to  my  persistence. 

Theodore  was  as  much  astonished  to  find  me  here  as  I 
was  to  overtake  him  in  this  place.  I  soon  explained  myself 
to  him,  and  he  did  the  same  to  me.  His  Liberal  notions  and 
their  free  expression  had  for  a  long  while  aroused  the  sus- 
picions of  the  government,  and  he  had  besides  signed  the 
protest  against  the  ordinance  of  the  Diet  at  Frankfort,  in 
common  with  many  of  the  best  and  most  intelligent  citizens 
of  Rhenish  Bavaria.  A  short  time  before  the  government  had 
instituted  proceedings  against  the  Protestants,  and  Theodore 
had  received  a  summons  to  appear  on  a  certain  day  at  the 
police  court  of  Kaiserslautern  to  stand  a  preliminary  trial. 
As  his  family  was  to  leave  in  a  few  days,  he,  in  order  to  es- 
cape arrest,  had  thought  it  best  to  take  time  by  the  forelock, 
and,  by  means  of  his  summons,  he  represented  himself  at  the 
French  frontier  as  a  political  fugitive  and  was  permitted  to 
pass  into  France,  where  I  found  him  by  the  sheerest  accident. 

CONFERENCE  WITH  SCHUELEB  IN  METZ 

Shortly  after  my  arrival  at  Metz,  I  went  to  the  house 
where  Mr.  Schueler  used  to  stop  when  in  the  city;  but  not 
finding  him  there,  I  left  a  note  begging  him  to  meet  me  at 
my  hotel  if  he  should  come  to  Metz  that  day.  In  the  mean- 
time, I  hunted  up  Mr.  Domes,  counselor-at-law,  and  head  of 
the  Liberal  party  at  Metz.  Domes  was  a  man  of  most  engag- 
ing presence,  of  high  intellect  and  of  the  most  determined 
character.  What  was  called  the  Liberal  party  at  that  time  in 
France  was  the  Republican  party.  The  Citizen-King's  mon- 
archy, in  their  opinion,  had  been  a  delusion;  a  republic  was 
the  only  alternative.  That  party  was  well  organized,  and 
had  its  local  and  its  central  committees.  They  knew  their 
exact  number  at  every  place,  and  were  prepared  to  obey  im- 
plicitly the  command  of  their  leaders  in  Paris.  Such  an 
organization  was  impossible  in  Germany  at  that  time.  The 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  221 

Germans  had  too  much  individualism  for  such  party  dis- 
cipline as  existed  and  still  exists  in  France.  Domes  was 
satisfied  that  Louis  Philippe's  regime  would  not  last  long. 
But  they  would  bide  their  time.  They  would  sympathize 
with  any  Liberal  movement  in  Germany ;  and  if  a  revolution 
there  succeeded,  it  might  at  once  have  an  influence  on  France. 
But  nothing  should  be  undertaken  in  Germany  with  the  ex- 
pectation of  assistance  from  France.  I  told  him  that  was 
exactly  my  own  view  and  that  I  had  come  to  Metz  not  to  so- 
licit aid,  but  to  have  an  interview  with  Schueler.  He  spoke 
very  highly  of  Schueler  and  offered  to  accompany  me  to  his 
country  seat. 

I  returned  to  my  hotel  and  found  Mr.  Schueler,  who  had 
received  my  note,  waiting  for  me.  He  invited  me  to  come 
out  to  St.  Ruffin,  his  residence  near  Metz,  which  I  did,  in 
company  with  Domes  the  next  morning,  going  out  in  a  car- 
riage to  Moulins,  which  is  only  a  short  distance  from  St. 
Ruffin,  situated  on  a  considerable  hill.  The  view  from  there 
was  charming.  Metz,  with  its  mighty  towers,  high  buildings, 
and  extensive  fortifications,  was  right  before  our  eyes.  We 
could  follow  the  course  of  the  Moselle  upwards  to  the  ruins 
of  a  colossal  Roman  aqueduct.  Vineyards  and  orchards  crown 
the  bank  of  that  lovely  river.  I  spent  a  most  delightful  day 
with  Schueler  and  his  wife,  a  native  of  France,  very  highly 
educated  and  spirituelle,  and  Mr.  Domes.  Schueler  gave  me 
a  very  interesting  description  of  the  parties  in  France.  He 
was  very  eloquent,  and  what  surprised  me  most,  was  full  of 
wit  and  humor. 

Regarding  the  main  object  of  my  mission,  it  was  per- 
fectly satisfactory.  He  had  not  thought  the  time  for  our 
rising  so  near,  but  was  prepared  at  any  time  to  follow  our 
call  and  to  devote  himself  to  our  cause  in  any  station  the 
people  might  think  fit.  He  accompanied  me  to  Metz  late  in 
the  evening,  and  I  parted  from  him  and  Domes  with  an  emo- 
tion to  which  I  was  not  often  subject.  At  any  other  time  I 
should  have  stayed  a  few  days  more  in  the  agreeable  city  of 


222  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Metz.  It  was  at  that  time  more  German  than  at  a  later  period, 
but  still  quite  different  from  a  real  German  city.  It  was 
filled  with  soldiers,  the  garrison  having  of  late  been  much  in- 
creased. It  has  a  large  military  school,  and  we  met  as  many 
military  men  and  cadets  in  the  public  square  and  the  fine 
cafes,  as  civilians.  And  they  are  a  lively  set,  constantly 
laughing  and  talking.  I  saw  files  of  soldiers  marching  to 
mount  guard.  They  went  like  so  many  school  boys,  not  keep- 
ing pace.  One  had  his  gun  on  the  left,  the  other  on  the  right 
shoulder.  Their  gay  uniforms,  wide  red  trousers,  and  jaunty 
little  caps  made  them  look  like  a  troop  of  soldiers  in  a  bur- 
lesque opera.  What  a  difference  between  these  little,  lively 
chattering  fellows  and  the  stout,  earnest,  somewhat  stolid- 
looking  German  soldiers. 

We  witnessed  here,  too,  quite  an  exciting  scene.  The 
siege  of  Antwerp  had  come  to  a  close,  and  one  of  the  French 
regiments  had  just  returned  to  Metz,  where  it  belonged.  It 
was  drawn  up  on  the  fine  large  public  square  before  the 
cathedral.  They  were  surrounded  by  thousands  of  their  fel- 
low-soldiers and  their  city  friends  and  acquaintances,  partic- 
ularly young  women.  No  sooner  was  the  word  given :  "Ground 
arms  —  stack  arms,"  than  they  all  broke  loose,  ran  into  the 
crowd,  and  there  was  an  embracing,  hugging,  kissing  and 
shouting,  such  as  I  had  never  before  seen.  What  pleased  me 
most  was  that  there  seemed  to  be  no  distinction  of  rank.  The 
officers  shook  hands  and  kissed  the  sergeants,  corporals,  the 
privates,  just  as  they  did  their  equals. 

Whatever  change  may  have  come  over  me  regarding  my 
opinion  of  the  French  people,  I  then  did  love  the  French ;  nor 
do  I  really  dislike  them  now.  And  while  they  themselves 
thought  that  the  July  Revolution  had  turned  out  a  fraud,  and 
that  they  were  still  oppressed  by  the  government,  there  was 
so  much  more  liberty  of  speech,  of  the  press,  and  of  action 
there  than  in  Germany,  that  I  breathed  lighter  and  freer  in 
France,  and  felt  sad  when  I  saw  again  on  my  return  the 
white  and  black  frontier  posts  of  Prussia. 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  223 

I  parted  from  Theodore  in  sadness,  as  I  expected  to  see 
him  no  more  in  this  life.  I  could  not,  considering  the  intimacy 
between  us,  conceal  from  him  what  was  my  object  in  visiting 
Metz  and  Schueler.  I  gave  him,  however,  no  details,  but  in- 
timated that  in  a  few  days  we  should  be  ready  for  the  move- 
ment. He  seemed  to  feel  much  regret  that  he  was  leaving  his 
country  just  when  such  an  important  crisis  was  impending; 
but  he  was  so  circumstanced  that  there  could  be  no  thought 
of  his  returning  and  joining  the  fray. 

I  left  Metz  early  in  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  March, 
and  arrived  the  next  day  at  Imsbach,  where  I  bade  adieu  to 
the  Engelmann  family,  then  just  on  the  point  of  leaving  with 
many  friends  for  Havre,  where  they  were  to  depart  for  the 
United  States. 

THE   BEGINNING 

Arrived  at  Frankfort  in  the  night  of  the  thirtieth  of 
March,  I  made  my  report.  I  had  mailed  a  letter  in  Mayence 
to  some  French  gentlemen  in  Besangon  and  one  in  Metz  to 
a  gentleman  in  Paris,  including,  I  believe,  one  to  Lelewel,  the 
president  of  the  Polish  committee.  I  was  now  informed  that 
several  dozen  Polish  officers  had  already  arrived  in  Rohr- 
schach,  in  Switzerland,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  our  friends 
in  Constance,  Freiburg  and  Strassburg,  to  organize  and  lead 
the  Liberal  volunteers  who  were  supposed  to  be  ready  to  rise 
in  mass  in  upper  Baden  and  the  Black  Forest ;  and  that  four 
or  five  Polish  officers  and  non-commissioned  officers  would 
leave  the  quarters  assigned  to  them  by  the  government  to 
perform  similar  services  in  Wuertemberg,  Rhenish  Bavaria 
and  Hesse-Darmstadt.  What  was  my  astonishment  when  the 
day  after  my  arrival  Theodore  Engelmann  made  his  appear- 
ance at  our  house.  As  my  family  knew  the  circumstances 
which  had  taken  him  to  Metz  and  that  his  family  certainly 
expected  to  find  him  there,  it  was  hard  to  explain  his  visit, 
but  somehow  or  other  we  invented  a  plausible  story  to  account 
for  it.  He  had  overcome  all  his  well-grounded  scruples,  and 
had,  without  passports,  by  avoiding  cities  and  towns  and  us- 


224  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ing  the  country  roads,  succeeded  in  getting  himself  through 
to  risk  his  all  for  a  cause  he  held  sacred.  Surely  it  was  a 
great  sacrifice. 

A  very  disagreeable  piece  of  news  reached  us  about  this 
time.  The  French  government  had  granted  small  pensions 
to  political  refugees,  principally  to  the  thousands  of  Poles 
exiled  after  the  failure  of  the  revolution  of  1831,  which  were 
to  hold  until  they  should  be  able  to  support  themselves.  It 
so  happened  that  just  then  a  bill  with  this  appropriation  was 
before  the  French  chambers.  Some  one  proposed  to  reduce 
the  sum  heretofore  fixed.  Lafayette  very  properly  opposed 
this  motion,  but  in  doing  so  committed  one  of  those  indiscre- 
tions which  were  not  uncommon  with  him.  ' '  So  far, ' '  he  said, 
' '  from  diminishing  this  appropriation  it  ought  to  be  increased, 
as  it  will  not  be  long  before  we  may  expect  a  large  number 
of  exiles  just  as  worthy  of  support  as  those  we  have  already 
amongst  us."  This  passage  created  a  great  deal  of  sensa- 
tion. It  was  generally  taken  in  Germany  as  a  hint  of  an  im- 
pending popular  commotion. 

In  the  manuscript  already  mentioned,  I  said  almost 
nothing  about  the  events  of  the  night  of  the  third  of  April, 
so  that  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  speak  of  them  now  more  in 
detail ;  and  I  will  for  this  purpose  use  the  report  of  the  presi- 
dent of  the  commission  appointed  by  the  Diet  for  the  purpose 
of  watching  all  revolutionary  movements,  which  was  pub- 
lished by  order  of  the  German  Diet.  I  could  not  now  after 
fifty  years  trust  my  own  recollections.  But  this  report  was 
sent  me  in  1837.  I  read  it,  of  course,  carefully,  and  found 
it  in  the  main  correct.  It  ran  as  follows : 

OFFICIAL  REPORT  OF  THE  FRANKFURTER  ATTENTAT 

' '  In  the  last  days  of  March  and  in  the  first  days  of  April 
there  had  arrived  in  Frankfort  a  part  of  the  conspirators 
from  abroad.  With  great  foresight  the  members  of  the  Bur- 
schenschaft,  as  the  younger  participants  in  the  plot,  had  been 
called  in,  so  that  in  case  of  failure  the  blame  could  be  thrown 
on  the  unreflecting,  over-enthusiastic  youth  of  Germany.  The 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  225 

students  who  arrived  were  from  Heidelberg:  Henry  Eimer 
(Baden)  ;  Peter  Feddersen  (Holstein)  ;  Edward  Fries  and 
Hermann  More  (Rhenish  Bavaria)  ;  Mathiae  (Rhenish  Ba- 
varia) ;  [this  was  a  mistake.  Mathiae  was  a  native  of  Frank- 
fort, a  classmate  of  mine,  the  son  of  a  former  very  distin- 
guished rector  of  the  Frankfort  gymnasium]  ;  Karl  Von 
Reitzenstein,  Frederick  Gambert,  Bernhardt  Licius,  Karl  Sig- 
ismund  Pfretzchner,  Julius  Rubener,  Ignaz  Sartori,  Ed- 
ward Von  Weltz,  all  from  different  provinces  of  Bavaria; 
Rudolph  Wislizenus  [a  mistake  —  his  first  name  was  Adolph]  ; 
Schwartzburg-Rudolfstadt,  from  Erlangen ;  Frederick  August 
Kraemer  and  Hermann  Frederick  Handschuh  (Bavaria)  ; 
Bernhardt  Julius  Daehnert  (Prussia),  from  Goettingen;  Jul- 
ius Thankmar  Alban  (Saxe-Gotha)  ;  Frederick  Holzinger 
(Bavaria)  ;  August  Ludwig  Von  Rochau  (Brunswick),  from 
Giessen;  Ernest  Schueler  and  Edward  Scriba,  from  Hesse- 
Darmstadt;  and  Alexander  Lubansky  (Poland)  ;  besides  these 
there  had  come  from  abroad  Dr.  Von  Rauschenplatt  (Han- 
over) ;  August  Kunradi  (Augsburg),  a  former  member  of  the 
Munich  Burschenschaf t ;  William  Obermueller,  a  former  stu- 
dent from  Freiburg;  William  Zehler  (a  former  student  from 
Wuerzburg),  from  Nuremberg;  Ludwig  Silberad,  a  former 
student  from  Freiburg;  Theodore  Engelmann,  from  Munich, 
who  was  on  the  way  to  America  with  his  family  and  had  left 
Metz  soon  after  Dr.  Koerner  had  arrived  there ;  also  one  The- 
odore Obermueller  from  Baden.  These  wrere  the  ones  from 
abroad  whose  names  had  become  known  with  certainty.  But 
there  were  also  a  number  of  Poles :  Major  Miehalowski  [prob- 
ably the  same  who  afterwards  came  to  the  United  States  and 
was  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  First  Hecker  regiment,  and 
afterwards  its  colonel]  ;  and  three  or  four  other  Polish  of- 
ficers, who  left  Frankfort  immediately  after  the  third  of  April. 
"The  plan  of  the  conspirators  was  first  to  take  the  two 
guard-houses.  These  massive  guard-houses  are  situated  at 
either  end  of  the  great  wide  Main  Street,  the  Zeil.  The  main 
guard-house  stands  isolated  in  front  of  the  parade  ground  into 
which  Main  Street  issues.  The  cannon  were  to  be  taken  from 
the  arsenal,  adjoining  the  Constables'  Guard-House.  The 
great  bell  (Sturmglocke)  of  the  Dom-Church  was  to  be  rung 
to  call  in  the  people  from  the  country,  who  were  waiting  out- 
side for  the  signal.  Those  who  were  to  storm  the  main  guard- 
house, at  the  request  of  Dr.  Koerner  and  Dr.  Gustav  Bunsen, 
met  in  the  afternoon  of  the  second  of  April  at  Bockenheim,  a 


226  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

town  close  to  Frankfort,  where  was  also  Dr.  Berchelmann. 
Dr.  Bunsen  informed  them  that  the  guard-house  had  to  be 
taken  between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  third 
of  April.  The  Frankfort  people  would  take  the  Constables' 
Guard-House.  A  great  many  people  in  Frankfort  were  sure 
to  join  in,  and  those  present  should  at  first  only  act  together; 
but  when  the  rising  became  general  they  were  to  disperse 
amongst  the  crowds  and  incite  them  to  fall  in.  Those  present 
at  that  meeting  were  divided  into  three  sections  to  be  com- 
manded by  Drs.  Bunsen,  Koerner  and  Berchelmann.  The  com- 
mander-in-chief  was  Dr.  Von  Rauschenplatt. 

"On  the  third  of  April  the  two  burgomasters  were  in- 
formed of  the  intended  insurrection  by  an  anonymous  letter, 
stating  that  the  two  guard-houses  were  to  be  stormed  at  half- 
past  nine  at  night ;  that  the  political  prisoners  there  confined 
were  to  be  liberated;  that  the  delegates  to  the  German  Diet 
were  to  be  arrested,  and  a  provisional  government  instituted. 
In  consequence  of  this  information  the  force  at  the  main 
guard-house,  consisting  of  forty-one  men,  was  increased  to 
fifty-one.  The  troops  of  the  line  were  held  ready  in  their 
barracks,  and  some  policemen  were  stationed  in  the  steeple  of 
the  Dom-Church  to  prevent  the  ringing  of  the  tocsin.  Those 
who  were  to  take  the  main  guard-house  met  about  nine  o  'clock 
at  the  house  of  Dr.  Bunsen  in  the  Mint  Building.  In  addi- 
tion to  those  who  had  been  at  Bockenheim,  appeared  Edward 
Kohloff,  from  Mecklenburg,  and  George  Nahm,  from  Rhenish 
Bavaria,  both  teachers  in  the  boys'  seminary  of  George  Bun- 
sen.  Both  had  been  members  of  the  Burschenschaf t. ' ' 

The  report  then  proceeded  to  say  that  the  order  was  given 
to  use  the  bayonet  and  to  shoot  only  in  case  of  necessity,  that 
the  conspirators  received  muskets,  pistols,  cartridges,  swords, 
daggers,  hatchets,  rockets  and  tri-colored  scarfs  (black,  red 
and  gold).  , 

Now  this  was  not  quite  true.  We  received  muskets  with 
bayonets,  forty  cartridges,  and  the  tri-colored  scarfs ;  but  that 
was  all.  I  think  there  were  a  few  rockets  in  the  crowd  to  give 
signals  to  outsiders,  and  it  is  barely  possible  that  some  may 
have  had  pistols  or  daggers,  but  none  were  dealt  out.  I  think 
Von  Weltz,  who  had  been  an  ensign  in  the  artillery  service, 
carried  some  grape  cartridges  to  load  the  two  six-pounder 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  227 

guns  which  stood  on  each  side  of  the  balustrade  that  encircled 
the  main  guard-house. 

I  will  here  remark  that  Bunsen  and  myself  had  been  in- 
formed that  the  force  at  the  main  guard-house  had  been  in- 
creased late  in  the  afternoon,  and  that  in  all  probabilty  the 
authorities  had  been  put  upon  their  guard.  We  communi- 
cated this  to  the  assembled  crowd,  and  told  them  that  those 
who  wished  might  yet  retrace  their  steps,  as  the  task  now 
would  be  far  more  perilous  and  a  failure  might  be  expected. 
But  all  declared  that  they  had  considered  the  case  and  were 
willing  to  risk  all  for  their  principles. 

''The  conspirators,"  continues  the  report,  "thirty-three 
in  number,  marched  from  the  Mint  Building  headed  by 
Rauschenplatt,  by  the  Great  and  Small  Hirschgraben,  through 
the  narrow  and  short  street  called  the  Katharinen-Pforte, 
which  issues  into  the  Zeil  and  the  parade-ground,  and  reach- 
ing the  Zeil,  threw  themselves  on  the  main  guard-house  at 
the  command  of  'Charge  bayonets  —  double  quick,  march!' 
In  a  moment  they  had  entered  the  veranda  which  runs  along 
the  entire  front  of  the  massive  building  and  rests  upon  pillars. 
The  sentinel  who  had  called  out  the  guard  defended  himself 
with  his  bayonet,  but  was  shot  through  the  arm.  The  muskets 
of  the  soldiers  hung  on  the  front  walls  on  pegs,  but  only  the 
sergeant  and  a  few  others  succeeded  in  getting  at  their  guns 
and  in  crossing  bayonets.  The  sergeant  was  shot  dead  and 
four  of  the  soldiers  were  wounded,  one  fatally,  by  bayonets. 
A  part  of  the  insurgents  rushed  into  the  large  guard-room  on 
the  west  side  of  the  corridor;  the  small  officers'  guard-room 
on  the  east  side  was  empty,  the  officer  in  command  having 
saved  himself  through  the  back  window  at  the  first  alarm. 
They  told  the  soldiers  to  surrender,  which  they  did;  but  the 
request  to  join  them,  that  all  Germany  was  rising  today,  that 
ten  thousand  peasants  were  on  the  march,  that  liberty  and 
equality  was  all  that  was  desired,  that  they  should  be  made 
non-commissioned  officers,  made  no  impression.  Money  was 
offered  them,  but  only  one  soldier  accepted  fifty  florins.  The 
prisoners  in  the  upper  story  of  the  guard-house,  who  were 
confined  for  violation  of  the  press-laws,  amongst  whom  were 
the  journalists  Freieisen  and  Sauerwein,  were  set  at  liberty." 

The  statements  of  the  report  thus  far  were  in  the  main 
correct.  When  the  word  "attack"  was  given,  I  ran  consider- 


228  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ably  ahead  of  my  section ;  so  did  Bunsen.  The  sentinel  spoken 
of  in  the  report  ran  his  bayonet  into  the  upper  part  of  my  left 
arm,  but  at  the  same  moment  he  was  shot  by  some  one  close 
behind  me,  and  Rauschenplatt,  Bunsen,  and  myself  were  the 
first  in  the  large  guard-room.  While  in  there  some  shots  were 
fired  through  the  window,  though  the  command  had  been  given 
not  to  fire.  The  forty  or  fifty  soldiers  stood  all  around  the 
walls  but  offered  no  resistance,  though  they  all  had  infantry 
sabres.  We  harangued  them,  though  not  quite  in  the  manner 
the  official  report  states.  I  had  felt  a  shock  when  I  was  struck, 
but  did  not  feel  that  I  was  wounded.  But  I  had  not  been 
more  than  a  minute  or  two  in  the  guard-room  when  a  chill 
ran  down  my  back,  and  I  felt  very  ill.  Ascribing  it  to  the  bad 
air  in  the  guard-room  and  to  the  smoke  of  the  powder,  I  step- 
ped out  on  the  veranda  for  fresh  air.  But  I  came  very  near 
fainting,  had  to  lean  against  one  of  the  stone  pillars  and  be- 
came very  sick  at  the  stomach,  while  the  blood  ran  down  my 
sleeve.  In  this  condition  my  friend  Kohloff  found  me.  I  told 
him  I  was  wounded.  I  had  already  dropped  the  musket.  I 
had  no  other  weapon.  He  proposed  to  take  me  to  my  home, 
which  was  not  very  far  off.  I  was  really  not  fit  to  fight  any 
more  that  night,  and  hated  to  be  made  a  prisoner.  I  took  his 
advice  and  was  led  home,  he  returning,  however,  immediately 
to  the  street.  What  happened  after  I  left,  in  the  street-fight, 
I  learnt  only  in  a  fragmentary  way  much  later  from  some  of 
the  participants,  and,  in  briefly  giving  an  account  of  it,  I 
again  rely  on  this  report,  as  also  on  a  similar  document  pub- 
lished by  the  government  of  Hesse-Darmstadt. 

"Bunsen  and  other  speakers,"  the  report  says,  "ha- 
rangued the  people  outside.  But  the  crowd  of  people  be- 
haved with  uncertainty.  Some  took  the  arms  offered,  some 
refused.  Some  cries  were  heard,  "Vivat  the  Republic." 
Rauschenplatt  seemed  to  have  lost  his  head.  He  started  with 
a  party  of  his  men  down  to  the  Constables'  Guard-House. 
Gustav  Bunsen,  with  another  party,  ran  down  to  the  Dom, 
overpowered  the  policemen  there  stationed,  and  had  the  toc- 
sin rung. 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  229 

"In  the  meantime,  the  Constables'  Guard-House  had 
been  taken.  The  conspirators  had  assembled  in  a  narrow 
street,  leading  to  the  Main  Street.  The  party  attacking  the 
Constables'  Guard-House  consisted  of  about  eighteen  persons, 
amongst  which  were  five  or  six  Polish  officers.  A  Polish  ma- 
jor (Miehalowski)  commanded.  Drs.  Guerth  and  Neuhoff 
were  amongst  them,  and  the  students  Schueler,  Scriba  and 
Lubansky;  also  Henry  Zwick,  formerly  a  non-commissioned 
officer  in  the  rifle  company  of  the  line,  now  clerk  of  Guerth. 
and  several  working  men. 

"With  the  cry  'Vivat  liberty,  liberty  and  equality,  rer- 
olution,'  they  threw  themselves  on  the  Guard-House.  The 
sentinel  was  struck  down  with  bayonets.  They  then  fired  into 
the  guard-room.  Two  soldiers  were  killed  and  three  wounded. 
Political  prisoners  were  set  free.  One  of  these  prisoners  was 
killed  by  mistake.  With  the  shout,  'Bring  out  the  cannon,' 
every  effort  was  made  to  break  open  the  doors  of  the  adjoin- 
ing arsenal;  but  before  they  could  procure  sledge-hammers, 
the  rioters  had  to  defend  themselves.  The  battalions  of  the 
line  troops  had  left  their  barracks  and  marched  to  the  main 
guard-house.  There  were  only  four  conspirators  there  guard- 
ing the  soldiers  who  had  been  made  prisoners.  When  the  sol- 
diers marched  up  they  retreated,  with  the  exception  of  Ruben- 
er,  who,  after  a  most  desperate  defense,  was  made  prisoner. 
Then  the  rifle-company  was  sent  down  Main  Street  towards 
the  Constables'  Guard-House.  The  captain  commanding  sent 
a  scouting  party  ahead,  consisting  of  a  corporal  and  five  pri- 
vates; but  they  were  fired  upon,  dispersed,  and  the  corporal 
made  prisoner.  The  captain  then  ordered  a  bayonet  charge 
of  his  troops,  but  the  conspirators  rushed  forward  to  meet 
them,  gave  a  regular  platoon-fire,  which  was  returned  by  the 
rifles,  and  then  they  came  to  a  hand-to-hand  conflict,  and  on 
both  sides  several  were  killed  and  wounded.  After  an  obsti- 
nate fight  the  conspirators  fled,  the  last  being  Bunsen,  who 
had  in  vain  called  upon  them  to  stand  firm. 

' '  Rioters  were  also  seen  in  other  parts  of  the  city  —  sev- 
eral groups  in  the  Fahrgasse  and  on  the  bridge  over  the  Main 
River  loading  their  guns  and  shouting,  'To  arms,'  'Vivat  lib- 
erty,' 'Vivat  the  Republic.'  These  belonged  to  the  lower 
classes.  At  the  same  time  from  forty  to  sixty  people  from 
Bonames  and  other  villages  attacked  the  custom-house  at 
Preungesheim,  near  Frankfort,  demolished  the  interior,  ran 
off  the  custom-house  officers,  and  marched  towards  Frankfort 


230 

to  join  another  troop,  which  had  already  reached  the  gates. 
But  finding  the  gates  closed  and  receiving  some  message  they 
retired.  This  crowd  was  under  the  lead  of  George  Neuhoff, 
Frederick  Breidenstein  and  Frederick  Kempff.  The  number 
of  the  killed  and  wounded  cannot  be  accurately  ascertained, 
since  the  insurgents  were  exceedingly  active  in  getting  their 
wounded  to  a  safe  place  and  in  removing  their  dead.  It  is 
proved  that  nine  were  killed  outright,  six  being  soldiers. 
Twenty-four  were  seriously  wounded,  fourteen  being  soldiers. ' ' 

In  summing  up  its  account  of  the  Frankfort  ' '  Attentat, ' ' 
the  report  states: 

"This  was  the  end  of  the  'emeute.'  That  its  rapid  sup- 
pression was  a  matter  of  course,  cannot  be  disputed.  It  was 
essentially  the  result  of  the  quick  arrival  of  the  troops  of  the 
line.  But  this  was  owing  to  the  accidental  circumstance  of 
the  authorities  having  received  a  warning  shortly  before,  and 
to  the  fact  that  the  troops  had  been  held  ready  in  their  bar- 
racks. A  delay  might  have  enabled  the  insurgents  to  hold  out 
a  few  hours ;  there  is  no  doubt  that,  as  always  in  large  cities, 
numbers  of  the  lower  classes  would  have  joined  them.  They 
would  have  possessed  themselves  of  the  cannon,  and,  what 
was  also  intended  as  a  most  effective  means  of  revolution,  of 
a  large  sum  of  money.  They  could  then  have  maintained 
themselves  until,  the  signal  having  thus  been  given  and  a 
tempting  example  set,  those  regions  which  had  been  prepared 
for  the  revolutionizing  complot,  and  in  which  the  outbreak  at 
Frankfort  was  expected  with  great  anxiety,  could  also  rise,  — 
particularly  the  two  Hesses,  Rhenish  Bavaria,  Wuertemberg 
and  Baden.  In  that  case  the  opposing  forces  would  at  first 
have  been  split  up,  though  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  in- 
surrection would  have  been  soon  overwhelmed.  It  was  also 
certain  that  by  then  murder,  fire,  and  rapine,  the  terrible  con- 
sequences of  all  revolutions,  would  have  had  sufficient  time 
to  lay  waste  prosperous  regions  of  Germany." 

Of  course,  the  version  of  these  last  lines  is  to  be 
credited  to  those  views  which  the  reactionary  authors  of  it 
would  naturally  entertain,  or  pretend  to  entertain,  of  any 
revolution,  however  justified  it  might  have  been,  and  however 
moderate  and  generous  the  actors  might  have  shown  them- 
selves. 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  231 

KOSERITZ  AND  THE  WUEBTEMBERG  RISING 

The  rising  of  the  military  in  Wuertemberg  failed,  Koser- 
itz  not  having  been  able  to  get  ready  on  the  third  of  April. 
Originally,  the  day  was  fixed  for  the  sixth;  but  the  time  set 
had  been  forestalled  on  account  of  the  imminent  danger  of 
betrayal  with  further  delay.  The  report  says,  however,  that 
by  a  special  messenger  Lieutenant  Koseritz  at  half  past  nine 
in  the  evening  of  the  third  of  April,  received  the  following 
note:  "Dear  Koseritz —  Keep  your  word  —  strike  at  all 
hazards."  '<l-  .f  ' 

The  news  of  the  ill  success  of  the  Frankfort  Attentat  hav- 
ing reached  Koseritz  on  the  fifth,  just  as  he  was  addressing 
some  of  the  insurrectionary  non-commissioned  officers  and 
had  announced  to  them  that  the  rising  would  take  place  within 
a  very  short  time,  he  made,  it  appears,  a  clean  breast  of  it, 
and  his  confessions  must  have  been  very  minute.  Some  sixty 
officers  and  non-commissioned  officers  were  arrested,  tried  by 
court-martial  and  barbarously  punished.  Koseritz  and  one 
sergeant  were  condemned  to  death,  but  just  as  the  guns  of  a 
file  of  soldiers  were  levelled  at  them  on  the  place  of  execu- 
tion, the  King  of  Wuertemberg  pardoned  them,  and  they  were 
allowed  to  leave  the  country. 

This  very  strange  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  King  gave 
rise  to  several  rumors.  One  was  that  Koseritz  was  a  natural 
son  of  the  King ;  another,  that  it  appeared  from  his  confession 
that  in  a  certain  contingency  the  King  was  to  have  been  made 
the  constitutional  Emperor  of  Germany.  That  this  idea  pre- 
vailed to  some  extent,  I  know  to  have  been  true.  William  of 
Wuertemberg  was  generally  considered  the  most  liberal  of  all 
the  German  princes.  It  is  quite  a  remarkable  fact,  that  even 
in  1849,  when  the  King  of  Prussia  had  refused  the  emperor- 
ship and  when  the  people  rose  in  Saxony,  Rhenish  Bavaria  and 
other  places  to  defend  the  constitution  framed  by  the  Frank- 
fort Parliament,  the  same  King  William  was  generally  desig- 
nated as  the  one  who  should  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
Empire. 


232  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Koseritz,  I  never  knew.  He  came  to  the  United  States, 
flourished  for  a  while  in  some  of  the  eastern  cities,  became  cap- 
tain of  a  volunteer  company,  which  enlisted  in  the  Florida 
War  in  1836,  and  was  there  either  killed  or  died  of  a  fever. 

FURTHER  RAMIFICATIONS  OF  THE  PLOT 

There  is  another  part  of  the  official  report  to  which  I  may 
briefly  refer,  relative  to  certain  ramifications  of  the  Frankfort 
Attentat.  The  revolution  was  to  embrace,  according  to  the 
report,  the  adjoining  country.  In  Rohrschach  and  Rheineck 
were  twenty  Polish  officers  waiting  to  revolutionize  Baden 
and  Wuertemberg.  Eight  days  after  the  Attentat  four  hun- 
dred Poles  left  the  depots  at  Besanc,on,  Dijon,  and  Salines  for 
Switzerland,  intending  to  cross  over  into  Baden.  At  the  same 
time,  several  armed  bands  from  Posen  and  Galicia,  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Zaliwsky  invaded  Poland.  This  insurrec- 
tion was  suppressed,  but  not  without  the  shedding  of  blood. 
The  news  of  the  Frankfort  Attentat  was  known  at  Genoa,  the 
report  asserts,  "on  the  fourth  of  April,"  clearly  showing  there 
also  a  connection.  The  same  month  a  conspiracy  was  discov- 
ered in  the  Kingdom  of  Sardinia,  of  republican  tendency. 
Many  of  its  members  were  army  officers  in  Genoa,  Turin, 
Chambery  and  Allessandria.  "Whatever  may  be  the  view," 
says  the  report, ' '  concerning  the  final  results  of  these  attempts, 
so  much  is  certain,  that  a  contemporaneous  rising  in  Germany, 
Poland,  France  and  Upper  Italy  would  have  been  of  a  most 
serious  character." 

PRO  DOMO  SUA 

I  have  now  done  with  the  third  of  April  in  general.  I  do 
not  wish  to  go  into  an  elaborate  explanation  of  my  conduct 
during  this  crisis.  In  some  respects  I  know  I  was  not  without 
blame.  I  had  a  right  to  dispose  of  myself ;  but  I  ought  to  have 
shown  more  regard  to  those  who,  from  their  constant  love  and 
affection  for  me  and  the  sacrifices  they  had  made  on  my 
account,  had  the  right  to  look  for  a  return  of  their  devotion  by 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  233 

every  means  in  my  power  to  insure  their  happiness  and  peace 
of  mind.  Of  course  I  thought  of  all  that;  and  it  may  be 
imagined  that  I  had  moments  of  severe  struggle  with  myself 
before  taking  the  final  step.  It  afterwards  appeared  to  me 
that  for  the  last  few  days  before  the  eventful  hour,  I  had  been 
in  a  dream.  Thoughts  and  feelings,  as  they  ran  through  my 
mind  and  heart,  cannot  be  clothed  in  words.  My  judgment 
upon  this  phase  of  my  life  is  nearly  the  same  as  that  which 
Doctor  Minnigerode  passed  upon  a  similar  one  in  his  own  life. 

Minnigerode  was  the  son  of  the  president  of  the  highest 
court  of  Hesse-Darmstadt.  In  1832  he  was  a  student  of  law 
at  Giessen.  He  was  not  at  Frankfort  on  the  third  of  April. 
He  was,  however,  a  member  of  the  Burschenschaft,  and  was 
particularly  active  in  distributing  liberal  documents  called 
"revolutionary"  by  the  government,  both  before  and  after 
the  third  of  April.  He  was  arrested  and  under  trial  for 
nearly  a  year,  then  dismissed,  but  later  again  arrested  and 
closely  confined  for  about  two  years,  when,  on  account  of  his 
health,  he  was  permitted  to  be  removed  to  his  home  and  placed 
under  the  surveillance  of  the  police.  By  the  efforts  of  his 
distinguished  family  he  was  finally  allowed  to  exile  himself,  — 
a  perfect  wreck  in  body  and  also  in  mind.  In  the  United 
States  he  soon,  however,  recovered  his  health.  In  a  few  years 
he  was  elected  professor  of  classical  literature  in  William  and 
Mary  College  in  Virginia.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  studied  theology,  and  was  soon  appointed  min- 
ister and  afterward  rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Rich- 
mond. He  was  an  eminently  religious  and  highly  moral  man, 
and  a  most  eloquent  preacher.  In  a  correspondence  with  me 
in  1880,  he  expressed  himself  concerning  his  action  in  1832  in 
this  wise: 

"  I  do  not  blame  the  government  for  preventing  the  upset- 
ting of  the  existing  institutions.  Yet  I  and  my  associates, 
according  to  our  insight,  had  desired  nothing  but  what  was 
good  and  noble.  We  felt  ourselves  to  be  heroes  and  were 
ready  to  attest  our  convictions  by  our  blood.  I  cannot  con- 
demn such  self-sacrifice  in  youth,  but  only  revere  it." 


234 

On  the  second  of  April,  1848,  there  appeared  in  the 
"Frankfort  Journal"  the  following  article: 

"At  the  time  when  the  unity  of  Germany  was  denounced 
as  the  dream  of  exalted  enthusiasts  and  even  as  a  criminal 
attempt  of  ruthless  malefactors,  sixty  noble  German  youths 
undertook  to  raise  the  banner  of  German  unity  and  to  bury 
the  disgrace  of  the  Fatherland  for  a  short  hour.  On  the  third 
of  April,  1833,  these  heroes  fought  at  Frankfort  the  uneven 
combat  in  which  they  boldly  risked  their  present  and  their 
future,  their  lives,  their  families  and  their  positions,  for  the 
then  desperate  cause  of  their  country.  Some  died  on  the  spot ; 
others  died  a  slower  death  in  the  cells  of  prisons.  Some  few 
received  a  late  pardon  by  amnesty. 

"To-day  the  unity  of  Germany  is  victorious  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people  and  even  in  the  cabinets  of  the  ruling  powers. 
But  Germany  has  not  yet  paid  back  its  sacred  debt,  not  yet 
rendered  its  tribute  of  gratitude  to  those  who  have  made  its 
banner  glorious  by  the  shedding  of  their  blood.  Even  now 
the  old  judgment  is  formally  in  force  against  that  heroic  band, 
and  the  saviours  in  the  time  of  need  of  German  honor  are 
looked  upon  merely  as  hardened  criminals,  instead  of  being 
the  objects  of  our  sympathy  and  our  reverence. 

"Since  that  bloody  third  of  April  of  1833,  is  come  the 
third  of  April  of  tomorrow,  which  finds  Germany  free  and 
united.  We  have  had  days  of  joy  and  jubilee;  let  us  devote 
this  third  of  April  to  the  memory  of  the  heroes  who  have  shed 
their  blood  for  the  now  victorious  cause  of  our  Fatherland, 
who,  brave  unto  death,  devoted  themselves  to  certain  destruc- 
tion for  our  three  dear  colors.  The  third  of  April  shall  be 
devoted  to  the  memory  of  the  sixty  Germans  who  have  made 
this  day  immortal  by  their  deeds. ' ' 

This  article  is  to  be  considered  as  having  been  written 
under  the  great  excitement  then  prevailing  all  over  Germany 
in  consequence  of  the  March  Revolution  and  of  the  prospect  of 
a  United  Germany  under  the  Parliament  which  was  shortly  to 
meet.  To  the  sober-minded  it  will  appear  bombastic,  for  the 
hope  for  unity  turned  out  to  be  a  dream  even  then.  The  Par- 
liament, however,  and  also  the  several  States,  pronounced  a 
general  amnesty  to  all  political  offenders.  The  third  of  April 
was  celebrated  in  Frankfort  and  many  other  places. 


THE  THIRD  OF  APEIL,  1833  235 

THE  OUTCOME  AND  THE  FLIGHT 

My  appearance  at  home,  excited  and  wounded,  struck  my 
family  with  dismay.  While  I  was  briefly  stating  what  had 
happened,  my  mother  bandaged  my  arm  to  stop  the  bleeding. 
Pauline  was  quite  overcome.  Not  knowing  the  outcome,  I 
tried  to  quiet  them.  If  we  succeeded,  nothing  bad  could  hap- 
pen to  me ;  if  we  failed  outright,  I  might  have  to  fear  the  con- 
sequences; but  I  expected  that  the  greater  part  of  Germany 
would  rise,  and  that  then  all  would  be  set  right  again.  "While 
I  held  out  these  hopes,  the  bugles  were  sounding  and  the  drums 
beating  in  the  barracks,  which  were  only  a  few  blocks  from 
our  house  at  the  end  of  the  Buchstrasse  near  the  St.  Leonhard 
Church.  About  half  an  hour  after  my  arrival  Charles  also 
came  in  under  great  excitement.  He  had  been  with  friends 
at  the  Hotel  de  Paris,  situated  at  the  end  of  the  parade-ground. 
Everybody  had  rushed  out  when  the  firing  was  heard,  and 
Charles  was  on  the  ground  shortly  after  we  had  taken  the  main 
guard-house.  He  followed,  down  the  Zeil,  the  detachment  of 
our  friends  who  went  to  the  Constables'  Guard-House;  but 
having  a  presentiment  that  I  was  possibly  mixed  up  in  the 
undertaking,  he  turned  back  to  our  house  to  find  out  where  I 
was.  In  so  doing,  he  saw  the  troops  retake  the  main  guard- 
house. He  at  once  took  in  the  situation.  ' '  You  must  not  stay 
here,"  he  said,  "I  will  take  you  to  one  of  my  friends  who  is 
not  suspected."  Mother  and  sister  at  once  urged  me  to  do 
this.  Giving  them  as  much  hope  as  possible  that  I  would  soon 
see  them  again,  I  tore  myself  away  and  went  with  Charles. 
Only  the  idea  that  I  had  done  what  I  could  not  have  left  un- 
done, given  the  whole  course  of  my  former  life,  and  also  the 
faint  hope  that  our  parting  was  not  forever,  supported  me  at 
this  most  serious  crisis  of  my  life. 

Charles  took  me  to  an  intimate  friend  of  his,  Mr.  R.,  a 
bookkeeper  of  a  large  banking-house,  residing  in  a  large  square 
called  the  Horse  Market  (Rossmarkt).  Doctor  Mappes,  an 
eminent  physician  and  a  pronounced  Liberal,  who  resided  in 
the  same  or  an  adjoining  house,  was  called  in  to  dress  my 


236  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

wound,  which  was  painful  but  not  dangerous.  I  had  lost  con- 
siderable blood,  and  had  a  fever.  He  prescribed  a  soothing 
powder,  and  I  quickly  fell  asleep.  I  was  soon  waked  up, 
however.  My  family  had  agreed  upon  a  plan  for  my  escape, 
which  was  necessary,  as  the  movement  had  entirely  failed  and 
the  police  had  already  made  many  arrests.  I  was  to  be 
dressed  in  women's  clothes.  Sister  Augusta  would  be  around 
in  a  carriage  about  eight  o'clock  to  take  me  to  Darmstadt  on 
the  way  to  Strassburg.  I  did  not  like  the  arrangement  and 
protested;  but  as  mother  and  sisters  asked  me  for  their  sakes 
to  consent,  I  could  not  refuse.  I  left  my  coat,  but  retained 
all  the  rest  of  my  dress.  My  trousers  were  tucked  up  and  tied 
above  the  knee.  Mrs.  R.  was  a  very  handsome  lady,  tall  and 
stout  in  proportion.  With  some  trouble  I  got  into  her  stock- 
ings, shoes  and  gloves.  A  dark  green  silk  dress  was  put  upon 
me,  a  shawl  and  a  very  fashionable  hat  with  a  veil.  It  was  the 
fashion  at  the  time  for  ladies  to  wear  false  curls  of  silk,  which 
were  tied  around  the  head  on  each  side  of  the  face.  Mrs.  R. 
had  dark  hair,  and  when  I  had  been  fixed  up  in  this  fashion 
and  looked  for  curiosity's  sake  into  the  glass,  I  did  not  know 
myself. 

The  carriage  came  round.  Augusta  was  perfectly  cool 
and  showed  great  firmness  of  mind.  Over  the  bridge  we 
passed  to  the  suburb  of  Sachsenhausen,  where  we  had  to  stop 
at  the  gate  to  pay  the  highroad  toll.  Looking  through  the 
carriage-window  I  saw  a  large  detachment  of  the  National 
Guards  on  duty  watching  the  gate.  They  belonged  to  the  very 
battalion  (""White  Plume,"  as  it  was  nicknamed)  that  I  was 
a  member  of,  but  not  to  the  same  company.  Still  I  was 
acquainted  with  some  of  them,  and  one  in  particular  (Melber) 
I  knew  very  well.  As  the  carriage  stopped  a  policeman 
opened  the  door  and  asked  us  where  we  were  going.  Augusta 
very  unconcernedly  replied  that  we  were  going  to  visit  some 
friends  in  Darmstadt  and  would  be  back  in  the  evening.  The 
policeman  still  holding  the  carriage  door,  called  out  to  some 
superior  officers  who  stood  on  the  veranda  of  the  guard-house : 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  237 

"Two  ladies."  "Let  them  pass"  (koenen  passieren),  was  the 
reply,  and  so  we  got  out  of  the  old  free  city,  as  it  was  styled, 
by  courtesy. 

Augusta  now  told  me  about  Theodore  Engelmann.  He 
had  come  to  our  house  not  long  after  I  had  left,  when  Charles 
had  come  back  from  Mr.  R. 's  house,  and  the  plan  of  escape 
was  then  agreed  upon.  Theodore  was  to  leave  some  time 
before  the  carriage  left  to  be  taken  up  on  the  road.  Charles 
gave  him  a  high  silk  hat  instead  of  the  one  he  wore,  and  also 
an  umbrella.  Theodore  wore  glasses  anyway.  He  was  to 
wait  until  the  time  when  the  country  people  entered  town  and 
the  people  of  the  suburbs,  who  are  mostly  gardeners  and 
workers  in  the  field,  left  the  city,  and  was  to  mingle  with  them 
and  quietly  pass  out.  Charles  also  furnished  him  with  a  sum 
of  money.  Augusta  and  myself  had  driven  about  three  miles 
on  the  road  towards  Darmstadt  when  we  beheld  Theodore 
sitting  on  the  wayside  waiting  for  us.  How  glad  we  were  to 
meet  him.  He  did  indeed  look  very  harmless  with  his  big 
spectacles,  and  stiff  high  hat,  and  umbrella  under  his  arm. 
When  he  had  reached  the  gate,  he  found  it  closed ;  but  on  each 
side  of  the  colossal  main  gate  there  were  two  small  gates  for 
foot  passengers.  As  was  expected,  the  people  passed  through 
these  small  gates  without  molestation,  and  so  did  he.  It  was 
really  a  marvelous  escape.  He  got  into  our  carriage.  It  must 
have  made  our  driver  quite  doubtful  about  the  respectability 
of  his  lady  passengers  when  he  was  told  to  stop  and  take  in 
this  wayside  passenger. 

Before  we  reached  Darmstadt  we  considered  how  we  could 
avoid  the  arrest  of  Theodore  if  the  news  of  the  events  of  last 
evening  should  have  got  there  before  we  did.  True,  there  was 
no  telegraph  then  in  existence,  except  in  France,  where  clumsy 
signals  were  given  by  wooden  planks  from  one  high  elevation 
to  another,  on  a  windmill-like  structure.  That  sort  of  tele- 
graph did  not  work  at  night,  nor  in  the  daytime,  if  the  weather 
was  not  very  clear.  But  still  a  courier  could  have  been  sent  to 
Darmstadt  early  in  the  morning.  Fortunately  I  had  been 


238  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

so  often  in  Darmstadt  (eighteen  miles  from  Frankfort)  that 
I  knew  the  ground  very  well.  The  grand  ducal  chateau  stands 
at  the  north  side  of  the  town  separated  from  the  streets  by  a 
huge  iron  railing;  but  the  entrance  gates  were  open  all  day 
long.  A  large  park  immediately  adjoins  the  chateau  and  in 
daytime  is  open  to  the  public  through  the  gates  leading  into 
the  yard  in  which  the  chateau  stands.  The  park  extends 
almost  half  a  mile  northward  and  runs  parallel  with  the 
Frankfort  road.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  high  stone  wall.  The 
northern  end  of  the  park  is  used  as  a  flower  and  vegetable 
garden.  When  we  came  near  this  park  and  garden,  I  dis- 
covered a  large  wooden  door  to  it  standing  open,  out  of  which 
a  wagon  had  just  been  driven  loaded  with  rubbish.  I  told 
Theodore  to  get  out,  enter  the  door,  and  go  through  the  park 
to  the  chateau  where  he  would  have  no  trouble  entering  the 
city.  He  was  to  go  to  the  principal  hotel,  "Die  Traube,"  and 
we  would  call  for  him  in  the  carriage  for  Heidelberg.  He  did 
so  and  got  safely  through. 

We  were  not  molested  at  the  gates  after  the  carriage  was 
inspected.  We  drove  at  once  to  a  family  with  whom  we  were 
on  very  intimate  terms.  The  head  of  it  was  Mr.  Becker,  a 
member  of  the  highest  court  in  Darmstadt  (Hofgerichtsrath) ; 
his  son,  some  years  older  than  I,  was  a  practicing  lawyer.  Two 
daughters  were  great  friends  of  my  sisters,  though  younger. 
I  had  often  spent  pleasant  days  at  Mr.  Becker's  house,  and 
the  girls  had  visited  us  very  often  at  Frankfort.  When  we 
rang  the  bell  and  my  sister  had  given  her  name  to  the  servant, 
we  were  shown  upstairs,  where  we  found  the  old  gentlemen 
and  his  wife  and  daughters.  When  we  entered  the  room, 
the  girls,  supposing  that  we  were  Pauline  and  Augusta,  ran 
towards  us  to  embrace  and  kiss  us,  when  I  drew  my  veil  aside 
and,  seeing  a  strange  lady,  they  drew  back  somewhat  surprised. 
I  at  once  explained  the  situation,  merely  stating  that  being 
suspected  of  being  engaged  in  a  political  plot  I  had  preferred 
to  leave  Frankfort  in  disguise.  They  were  very  lively  girls, 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  239 

and  could  not  help  laughing  at  my  disguise,  paying  me  very 
high  compliments  on  my  ladylike  appearance. 

The  son  soon  came  in  and  to  him  I  communicated  a  little 
more  of  the  affair.  I  retired  and  threw  off  my  feminine 
apparel.  My  boots  we  had  brought  along  in  the  seat  of  the 
carriage.  Young  Mr.  Becker  gave  me  a  fine  black  dress  coat 
and  a  high  hat.  He  also  ordered  a  carriage.  It  was  about 
dinner  time,  and  we  stayed  for  dinner.  The  old  gentleman 
was  somewhat  embarrassed.  He  held  a  high  official  position, 
but  then  I  had  thrown  myself  upon  his  hospitality,  and  he 
would  have  been  the  last  man  to  betray  me. 

I  then  parted  from  dear  Augusta.  She  had  behaved  with 
the  greatest  fortitude.  I  learned  afterwards  from  letters  that 
she  was  examined  several  times  by  the  criminal  court,  but  that 
she  could  not  be  made  to  say  anything  either  about  my  stay  in 
Frankfort  at  Mr.  R.'s  or  at  Mr.  Becker's  in  Darmstadt.  Nor 
did  the  court  ever  discover  that  Theodore  had  been  at  our 
house.  From  Charles,  the  court  likewise  got  no  information, 
except  of  my  having  come  to  the  house  and  having  left  it ;  he 
did  not  know  whither  I  had  gone.  As  I  was  out  of  danger, 
they  of  course  told  all  they  could  about  me,  without  comprom- 
ising others. 

We  went  for  Theodore  to  the  hotel  with  the  carriage.  I 
promised  the  driver  a  dollar  if  he  would  hurry  on,  as  we 
wanted  to  be  at  Heidelberg  early  in  the  evening.  He  did  his 
best,  watered  his  horses  but  twice,  and  drank  but  two  schop- 
pens  of  wine.  He  made  the  thirty-five  miles  in  about  five 
hours.  At  the  bridge  over  the  Neckar  we  got  out  and  walked, 
talking  loud  and  singing  as  students  might,  after  telling  the 
driver  where  to  stop.  Thus  we  passed  the  gate  on  the  Heidel- 
berg side  without  any  trouble,  and  went  to  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Ottendorf,  an  intimate  friend  of  the  Engelmann  family.  I 
sent  Mr.  Becker's  coat  and  hat  back  by  the  carriage.  Jona- 
than Winter,  a  friend  and  former  fellow-student  of  ours,  was 
sent  for.  He  furnished  me  at  once  with  a  very  comfortable 
double-breasted  coat,  and  a  citizen's  cap,  ordered  the  best  team 


240  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

from  the  livery  stable  we  used  to  patronize ;  and  in  less  than 
an  hour  we  were  on  our  way  to  Carlsruhe,  about  fifty  miles 
from  Heidelberg.  We  arrived  there  early  in  the  morning,  at 
once  took  another  carriage,  and  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing we  reached  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  opposite  Lauterburg  in 
lower  Alsace.  We  had  to  wait  about  an  hour  for  the  ferry- 
boat from  the  other  side  of  the  river  to  take  us  over  to  France, 
where  we  considered  ourselves  safe. 

Often  in  history  and  romance  I  had  read  of  flights  and 
narrow  escapes,  and  always  I  had  felt  a  deep  interest  in  such 
narrations.  If  I  sympathized  with  the  fugitive,  I  followed 
the  different  incidents  of  his  flight,  putting  myself  in  his  place 
and  becoming  very  nervous  about  the  result :  I  might  almost 
say  I  trembled  for  him.  But  I  can  truthfully  say,  that  when 
I  myself  was  in  the  same  predicament  as  these  heroes  of 
romance,  I  felt  perfectly  cool  and  almost  indifferent.  Very 
likely  this  was  the  consequence  of  a  reaction  to  my  high  ten- 
sion of  mind  during  the  two  or  three  days  previous.  I  think 
it  really  worth  while  to  mention  this  curious  phenomenon. 

REFUGE  IN  FRANCE 

But  even  in  France  we  had  to  be  distrustful.  Lauterburg. 
formerly  a  fortress,  is  still  a  walled  town.  It  is  about  half 
a  mile  from  the  river  on  the  heights  bordering  the  Rhine. 
Theodore  had  no  passport  at  all;  Charles  had  got  me  an  old 
passport  to  Metz,  which,  however,  had  been  viseed  to  Metz  and 
back  again  to  Frankfort,  and  had  expired  by  nearly  a  week. 
About  half  way  to  the  town  we  noticed  a  narrow  but  well 
beaten  road  to  our  right,  which  seemed  to  lead  through  the 
old  fortifications  to  the  city.  It  was,  however,  a  prohibited 
way,  there  being  a  notice  on  a  post  with  the  words  "Chemin 
defendu. ' '  Still,  we  thought  it  safest  to  take  it,  and  came  by 
a  roundabout  way  to  a  large  stone  building,  the  doors  of  which 
stood  wide  open.  We  found  it  to  be  the  barracks  of  a  hussar 
regiment,  some  squadrons  of  which  were  just  riding  out  for 
exercise  or  drill,  with  a  big  crowd,  composed  mostly  of  boys, 


THE  THIRD  OF  APRIL,  1833  241 

following  them.  We  walked  directly  into  the  yard,  and  out 
again  at  the  opposite  side  right  into  the  town.  In  this  way 
we  avoided  being  stopped  at  the  fortress  town-gate,  where  our 
passports  certainly  would  have  been  demanded,  and  where, 
having  none  worth  anything,  we  might  have  been  arrested. 

After  resting  a  while  at  the  tavern,  the  landlord  of  which 
was  a  good  Republican  and  gave  us  the  address  of  another 
Republican  landlord  at  Weissenburg,  we  left  Lauterburg  on 
foot,  and  walked  out  of  the  gate  with  the  many  people  who 
were  going  into  the  country,  it  being  a  holiday,  Good  Friday. 
At  the  next  village  we  hired  a  conveyance  which  brought  us 
to  Weissenburg,  also  formerly  a  fortress  and  still  a  walled 
town.  We  left  our  little  wagon  before  reaching  the  town  and 
walked  in  unmolested,  as  here  also  there  were  a  great  many 
people  promenading  and  passing  in  and  out  through  the  gates. 

What  happened  to  us  at  Weissenburg  is  fully  described  in 
the  oft-mentioned  manuscript  with  some  essential  omissions. 
I  will  translate  the  passage.  The  landlord  to  whom  we  ad- 
dressed ourselves  advised  us  to  get  passports  to  Strassburg 
from  the  commissary  of  police,  who  he  said  was  pretty  liberal. 
We  did  so  and  presented  him  our  papers,  telling  him  that  we 
were  political  refugees  from  Frankfort.  He  appeared  quite 
friendly,  and  told  us  to  call  again  next  morning.  In  the  even- 
ing we  found  in  the  hotel  a  number  of  Liberals,  who  told  us 
that  we  had  been  ill-advised  to  call  upon  the  commissary,  but 
that  our  personal  safety  would  be  taken  care  of  by  the  towns- 
people, who  were  largely  Republicans.  The  commissary 
informed  us  next  morning  that  he  had  sent  our  papers  to  the 
mayor.  Calling  at  the  mayor's  office,  the  latter  said  that  the 
commissary  had  viseed  our  papers  (my  old  Metz  passport)  on 
condition  of  leaving  France  immediately  (vu  pour  sortir  de 
suite  hors  de  frontiers  de  France) .  The  commissary  had  told 
the  mayor  that  he  was  obliged  to  do  this  by  telegraphic 
instructions  from  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  at  Paris. 

But  the  mayor  said  to  us  that  he  was  not  minded  to  dis- 
honor the  French  people.  The  ministerial  order  was  contrary 


242  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

to  the  laws  concerning  political  refugees.  He  had  compelled 
the  commissary  to  add  to  the  order  "unless  they  will  submit 
themselves  to  the  laws  concerning  political  refugees."  And 
indeed  we  found  the  last  words  inserted  in  different  ink  (a 
moins  qu'il  veuille  se  conformer  a  la  loi  sur  les  refugies).  The 
passport  is  now  before  me.  There  were  several  other  em- 
ployees of  the  mayor's  office  present,  and  they  all  assured  us 
that  they  would  have  rather  suffered  removal  than  have  exe- 
cuted an  unconstitutional  order.  ' '  If , "  said  the  mayor,  ' '  the 
commissary  had  ordered  you  to  be  brought  back  to  the  Bavar- 
ian frontier  only  a  mile  from  here,  I  should  have  called  out  the 
National  Guards  to  protect  you. ' '  We  most  cordially  thanked 
the  mayor,  and  were  surprised  to  find  such  a  true  constitu- 
tional spirit  among  the  brave  Alsatians.  The  mayor  procured 
us  what  were  called  interim  passports  to  Strassburg,  upon 
which  was  indorsed  that  we  should  immediately  on  our  arrival 
present  ourselves  at  the  office  of  the  Prefect  of  Lower  Alsace. 
Our  landlord,  who  was  a  captain  in  the  National  Guard,  also 
assured  us  that  they  would  not  have  allowed  to  us  to  be  deliv- 
ered over  to  the  Bavarian  authorities,  and  that  the  troops  of 
the  line,  in  garrison  at  Weissenburg,  would  never  have  acted 
against  the  National  Guard  in  such  an  emergency. 

In  Weissenburg,  as  well  as  Lauterburg,  everybody,  even 
the  government  employees,  spoke  German.  Indeed,  there  was 
no  difference  at  all  in  language  and  manners  between  the 
Alsatians  of  that  time  and  the  people  of  Landau  or  Neustadt. 


CHAPTER  XI 


"We  left  Weissenburg  late  in  the  evening  by  stage,  arrived 
at  Strassburg  early  in  the  morning,  delivered  our  passports 
at  the  gate,  and,  after  having  designated  the  place  we  were 
to  stop  at,  received  receipts  for  the  same.  We  went  to  the 
hotel  recommended  to  us  as  kept  by  a  patriot ;  and  although 
very  tired  we  immediately  began  to  hunt  up  our  many  friends 
who  lived  here  in  exile.  In  the  street  we  met  one  of  them 
who  took  us  at  once  to  a  coffee-house,  where  we  met  Mr.  Lich- 
tenberger,  a  eounselor-at-law  of  Strassburg,  and  who  was  one 
of  the  most  prominent  leaders  of  the  Republicans,  and  also  a 
Mr.  Venedey,  with  whom  I  had  become  acquainted  at  Ham- 
bach.  Venedey  had  been  long  known  as  a  Liberal  publicist  in 
Germany,  had  been  the  editor  of  the  "Watchman  on  the 
Rhine,"  at  Mannheim,  when  that  paper  was  confiscated  and 
he  himself  arrested,  but  had,  in  a  very  bold  manner,  escaped 
from  the  escort  which  was  taking  him  to  Prussia.  Venedey 
was  a  native  of  Cologne,  had  been  a  leading  member  of  the 
Burschenschaft  at  Heidelberg  some  years  before,  and  was  a 
strong  and  clear  writer,  but  by  no  means  an  ultra-radical. 
He  was  considered  by  the  Strassburg  people,  and  also  by  the 
authorities,  as  the  head  of  the  exiled  German  colony.  He 
was  tall,  with  a  high  and  open  forehead,  was  of  a  very  pale 
complexion,  and  had  light  hair  and  blue  eyes.  He  looked  more 
like  a  German  professor  than  a  revolutionary  agitator.  The 
revolution  of  1848  brought  him  back  to  Germany.  He  became 
a  member  of  the  Preliminary  Parliament,  and  on  the  adjourn- 
ment of  that  body  was  appointed  one  of  the  committee  of  fifty 
that  carried  on  the  government  until  the  meeting  of  the  great 


244  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Parliament.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  latter  gather- 
ing, and  acted  rather  more  conservatively  than  his  party  ex- 
pected. 

"We  spent  the  day  with  our  friends,  not  being  willing  to 
deliver  ourselves  over  at  once  to  the  authorities.  We  wished 
to  stay  near  the  frontier  to  watch  events.  Besides,  I  expected 
to  hear  from  home  and  to  receive  my  trunk.  Our  exiled 
friends,  like  exiles  generally,  had  not  given  up  all  hopes  of  a 
general  rising.  That  evening  we  were  taken  to  an  estaminet, 
a  place  where  beer  can  be  had  and  where  everybody  can 
smoke.  It  was  a  place  of  rendezvous  for  exiles  of  all  sorts, 
and  we  were  introduced  there  to  some  Italian  refugees.  Most 
of  the  French  we  found  there  were  students,  and  all  were  the 
most  fiery  Republicans.  We  were  treated  with  great  kindness, 
almost  with  enthusiasm  by  the  Frenchmen  we  met;  and  of 
course  the  many  Germans  whom  we  had  known  at  home  as 
fellow-students  received  us  with  open  arms. 

But  in  making  our  calculations  to  stay  in  Strassburg  we 
had  reckoned  without  the  French  police.  Theodore  Engel- 
mann,  who,  feeling  very  tired,  had  left  our  company  for  our 
hotel  before  I  did,  very  soon  returned.  Near  the  entrance  of 
the  hotel  he  was  met  by  a  waiter  who  had  been  on  the  look- 
out for  us,  and  who  told  him  we  should  have  to  leave,  as  very 
soon  after  we  had  left  two  policemen  had  diligently  inquired 
for  us,  had  gone  into  the  room  we  occupied,  had  examined  the 
little  bundle  belonging  to  Theodore,  and  had  taken  away  a 
dirk  knife  which  Theodore  had  left  on  the  table.  The  police 
had  repeated  their  visit  four  times.  The  waiter  had  been  for- 
bidden to  mention  their  appearance;  but  he  nevertheless 
wished  to  give  us  fair  warning. 

When  this  disagreeable  news  was  communicated  to  us, 
some  of  the  students  immediately  offered  us  their  hospitality. 
A  very  handsome  young  man,  a  student  of  medicine,  invited 
me  at  once  to  share  his  lodgings,  which  were  rather  elegant, 
consisting  of  a  large  bedroom  and  a  sitting-room  or  library. 
I  took  the  bedroom,  and  he  made  himself  a  bed  on  the  sofa  in 


IN  FRANCE  245 

the  other  room.  The  walls  were  hung  with  colored  prints  of 
popular  statesmen,  actresses  and  ballet-girls.  In  the  bedroom, 
in  one  corner,  stood  a  skeleton,  covered  with  a  red  liberty  cap. 
My  friend  was  a  very  vivacious  fellow  and  a  first-rate  talker. 
He  at  once  informed  me  that  he  had  "une  tres  jolie  petite 
femme,"  and  was  very  much  surprised  when  I  told  him  that 
in  Germany  such  things  would  not  be  tolerated  by  the  authori- 
ties or  even  by  the  student-societies.  Relegation  from  the  uni- 
versity and  expulsion  under  disgrace  from  the  societies  would 
at  once  follow  the  keeping  of  a  "  petite  femme. ' '  He  thought 
we  were  a  queer  set  of  people.  Here  almost  every  student  had 
his  "grisette,"  of  which,  of  course,  I  was  well  aware.  I  did 
not  get  to  see  the  young  lady  while  I  stayed  with  my  young 
friend. 

In  the  morning  he  gave  me  a  sort  of  fancy  coat  to  wear 
and  a  loud  vest ;  and  after  I  had  purchased  in  a  nearby  store 
a  French  student's  cap,  I  was  pretty  certain  not  to  be  recog- 
nized as  a  German  doctor  of  law.  We  learned  from  our  Ger- 
man friends  that  some  of  the  houses  of  refugees  had  already 
been  searched  for  us  by  the  police,  as  well  as  some  of  the  cof- 
fee-houses and  taverns.  We  were  not  willing,  however,  to  sur- 
render ourselves  unconditionally.  The  day  after  our  arrival, 
the  second  Easter  day,  which  here,  as  in  Germany,  was  kept 
as  a  holiday,  we  spent  very  pleasantly  with  our  friends  in  a 
village  not  far  from  the  gates.  The  gardens  of  this  village 
were  crowded  with  people  from  Strassburg  and  the  neighbor- 
ing towns.  The  villagers  particularly  looked  far  more  like 
Germans  than  the  German  villagers  at  home.  They  wore  the 
real  national  colors,  which  were  still  in  fashion  in  the  valleys 
of  Suabia,  but  in  the  German  provinces  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Rhine  had  been  pretty  much  discarded.  The  language 
of  the  people  was  German.  At  that  time,  it  was  only  amongst 
the  government  employees  of  the  highest  class  that  French 
was  spoken. 

We  now  read  in  the  papers  a  great  many  articles  con- 
cerning the  emeute  of  the  third  of  April.  They  were  col- 


246  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ored,  of  course,  by  the  political  views  of  the  journals.  We 
could  gather  from  them,  however,  that  there  was  little  use 
in  our  staying  much  longer  near  the  frontier.  No  popular 
rising  elsewhere  had  taken  place.  The  second  evening  after 
our  arrival  in  Strassburg  we  passed  again  in  a  large  assembly 
of  exiles,  and  we  were  surprised  by  the  arrival  of  some  Polish 
officers  who  had  been  with  us  at  Frankfort.  They  were  so 
disguised,  however,  that  we  hardly  recognized  them.  They 
intended  to  go  to  Switzerland. 

I  did  not  miss  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  most  re- 
markable places  in  Strassburg,  including  the  St.  Thomas 
Church,  which  contains  the  celebrated  monument  of  the 
Marechal  de  Saxe,  by  Pigalle,  and  the  Minster,  that  wonder- 
ful masterpiece  of  Gothic  art.  On  a  fine,  clear  day  we  as- 
cended the  Minster  steeple.  From  the  platform,  even,  one 
has  a  most  enchanting  view;  but,  like  Goethe,  whose  name  is 
inscribed  on  the  parapet,  I  went  to  the  highest  accessible 
point.  To  reach  this,  one  has  to  go  by  a  narrow  outside  stair- 
way, and  no  one  in  the  least  inclined  to  giddiness  should 
risk  the  ascent.  But  I  was  perfectly  free  from  this  failing, 
and,  in  fact,  have  been  nearly  all  my  life.  The  people  below 
in  the  square  on  which  the  Minster  stands  appeared,  from 
this  point,  not  bigger  than  babies.  To  describe  the  view  one 
has  from  here,  of  the  city  and  its  numerous  neighboring  vil- 
lages, of  the  Vosges  to  the  west,  of  the  Black  Forest  to  the 
east,  of  the  Swiss  mountain  ranges  to  the  south,  and  of  the 
grand  Rhine  flowing  to  the  north,  I  will  not  undertake. 

We  had  hardly  come  down  from  this  charming  spot 
when  Venedey  met  us  and  told  us  that  a  commissary  of  po- 
lice had  been  to  see  him,  and  had  most  urgently  requested 
him  to  induce  us  to  present  ourselves  at  the  prefecture,  add- 
ing that  a  further  refusal  to  subject  ourselves  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  our  "interim"  passports  would  have  very  serious 
consequences  for  us.  Still  we  could  not  conclude  to  place  our- 
selves at  the  discretion  of  the  prefect,  Mr.  Chopin  d'  Arnou- 
ville,  who  was  an  ill-tempered  Louis  Philippist  of  the  deepest 


IN  FRANCE  247 

dye,  and  who  persuaded  Venedey  to  obtain  the  police  commis- 
sioner's word  of  honor  that  we  should  not  be  sent  back  to  the 
German  frontier.  But  even  the  word  of  honor  of  the  com- 
missary did  not  appear  to  be  a  sure  guarantee.  We  accepted, 
therefore,  with  pleasure,  the  offer  of  Mr.  Hornus,  a  citizen  of 
Strassburg  of  high  standing,  to  accompany  us  to  the  office 
of  the  prefect.  Hornus  was  a  Liberal  leader,  in  whose  family 
we  had  passed  some  pleasant  hours.  Arrived  at  the  prefect's, 
Mr.  Hornus  told  him,  according  to  a  previous  understanding, 
that  neither  of  us  could  speak  or  write  French,  which  he 
thought  might  excuse,  to  some  extent,  our  non-compliance 
with  the  directions  in  our  passports.  It  was  thought  advis- 
able to  make  this  statement,  in  order  to  avoid  an  altercation. 
Mr.  Chopin  d'  Arnouville,  a  spare,  bilious,  spiderlike,  for- 
bidding-looking man,  at  once  addressed  us  with  bitter  re- 
proaches. But  Hornus  very  coolly  remarked  that  the  govern- 
ment had  lately  acted  very  strangely  towards  political  refu- 
gees, and  that  there  was  a  rumor  current  in  the  city  that  it 
was  intended  to  give  over  all  recent  refugees  to  their  re- 
spective governments.  This  was,  he  said,  a  sufficient  reason 
for  persons  wishing  to  avoid  coming  into  contact  with  the 
authorities.  D '  Arnouville  replied  that  he  would  not  send  us 
back  to  Germany;  his  feelings  of  humanity  would  prevent 
him  from  sending  young  men  like  us  to  the  gallows;  he  left 
it  undecided  whether  he  had  authority  to  do  so  or  not.  But 
we  must,  he  said,  leave  France  for  Switzerland  instantly, 
with  what  he  called  ' '  un  passport  force. ' '  Mr.  Hornus  begged 
him  to  give  Theodore  Engelmann  a  passport  for  Havre,  where 
he  could  join  his  family  and  leave  France  instantly  for  Amer- 
ica; but  the  prefect  would  not  listen  to  this,  nor  to  our  re- 
quest to  stay  a  day  or  two  longer  in  Strassburg,  where  we  ex- 
pected to  receive  our  trunks  from  Frankfort.  We  were  at 
once  taken  into  another  room,  measured,  and  provided  with 
passports  for  Zuerich.  They  were  made  "bon  pour  aller  a 
1'  etranger,  avec  defense  expresse  de  rentrer  en  France." 
But  the  sergeant  of  police  who  was  charged  to  see  us  out  of 


248  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  city  allowed  us  to  stay  until  evening.  In  the  meantime,  I 
called  at  the  store  of  the  bookseller  to  whom  Charles  had  said 
he  would  send  my  trunk,  and  fortunately  it  had  just  arrived. 

The  same  afternoon  Ludwig  Boerne,  from  Paris,  on  a 
journey  to  Switzerland,  arrived  at  Strassburg,  heard  of  our 
being  there,  and,  as  he  had  been  a  friend  of  my  father,  and 
was  still  more  intimate  with  my  brother,  he  called  at  the  place 
where  we  were  stopping.  In  his  posthumous  works,  Boerne 
writes  of  this  meeting,  in  a  letter  of  the  12th  of  April,  1833 : 
"Those  were  remarkable  events  at  Frankfort.  The  conspiracy 
had  been  divulged  not  by  malice,  but  by  inconsiderate  talk. 
The  conspirators  knew  that  they  were  betrayed  and  had  to  go 
abroad  prematurely.  Guerth,  Bunsen,  Koerner  are  in  France; 
Koerner  is  wounded  in  the  arm.  I  have  conversed  with  him. 
I  have  spoken  also  with  a  young  man  from  Rhenish  Bavaria, 
Engelmann  by  name.  He  was  with  his  parents,  brothers  and 
sisters,  on  his  way  to  North  America.  At  Metz  he  learned  of 
the  Frankfort  plan,  left  his  parents  secretly,  and  fought  at 
Frankfort." 

Boerne  is  not  quite  accurate.  Guerth  and  Bunsen,  the 
latter  of  whom  had  been  wounded,  were  not  in  France  then, 
but  still  in  Frankfort.  Engelmann  did  not  leave  his  family 
secretly. 

I  had  seen  Boerne  before  at  Hambach ;  he  was  really  very 
much  affected.  He  showed  great  emotion.  We  spoke  of  Engel- 
mann's  intention  to  go  to  America,  and  I  myself  intimated 
that  if  there  was  no  near  prospect  of  a  change  in  Germany 
I  should  prefer  to  seek  a  home  there  instead  of  leading  an 
idle  exile's  life  in  Switzerland.  Boerne  very  warmly  pro- 
tested against  our  leaving  Europe.  He  thought  we  might  be 
needed  at  some  time.  I  remarked  that  there  were  thousands 
left  in  Germany  who  would  do  the  same  that  we  had  done, 
and  more  too;  but  he  replied  that  while  this  might  be  very 
true,  yet  these  had  not  yet  had  opportunity  to  show  their  de- 
votion and  were  therefore  without  influence,  while  our  names 
were  now  known  and  the  people  would  have  confidence  in 


IN  FRANCE  249 

our  lead.  He  said  much  more  to  the  same  effect  and  with  much 
warmth. 

Our  financial  affairs  now  claimed  our  attention.  Of  the 
money  we  had  taken  with  us  from  Frankfort  we  had  enough 
left  to  carry  us  to  any  point  in  Switzerland,  where  Charles 
had  promised  to  send  me  money  the  moment  he  knew  where 
I  was.  But  I  was  anxious  for  Theodore  to  go  to  Havre ;  and 
as  this  journey  would  involve  an  expense  of  some  hundred 
francs,  more  money  was  needed.  I  told  this  to  Boerne  and 
he  at  once  offered  to  give  us  what  was  wanted,  two  hundred 
francs,  for  which  I  gave  him  a  draft  on  Charles,  which  was 
very  satisfactory  to  him,  though  I  believe  he  did  not  at  the 
time  think  of  claiming  repayment.  And  I  must  add  that 
when  I  parted  from  my  student  host  he  and  his  fellow-stu- 
dents offered  us  some  hundred  francs  as  a  contribution  to  our 
traveling  expenses.  I  really  do  not  recollect  whether  we  took 
the  money  or  not.  I  believe  we  did  not;  but,  be  that  as  it 
may,  it  was  a  noble  thing  in  those  young  men,  heretofore 
perfect  strangers  to  us,  not  only  to  entertain  us  while  with 
them,  but  voluntarily  to  provide  for  our  future  comfort.  No 
wonder  that  I  did  not  dislike  the  French.  Mostly  all  of  the 
students  at  Strassburg  were  Republicans.  They  had,  as  I 
learned,  no  secret  student  societies,  but  nearly  all  of  them  be- 
longed to  the  great  secret  society  "Les  amis  du  peuple,"  or 
to  that  known  as  ' '  Le  droit  de  1 '  homme. ' '  They  did  not,  like 
the  German  students,  live  exclusively  amongst  themselves,  but 
resorted,  in  the  evening,  to  the  public  cafes  and  billiard  halls, 
mixing  with  people  of  all  professions  and  occupations. 

Another  citizen  of  Strassburg  offered  to  take  us  in  his 
horse  and  buggy  to  Colmar,  about  half  way  to  Basle.  About 
five  in  the  evening  the  sergeant  of  the  police  made  his  appear- 
ance, and  in  company  with  a  dozen  or  more  of  our  German 
and  French  friends,  we  were  taken  to  the  gate,  and,  producing 
our  passports,  we  were  left  to  proceed  on  our  way.  We  and 
our  friends  went  to  a  tavern  about  a  mile  from  the  outer  gate, 
and  passed  a  very  pleasant  time  until  the  buggy  arrived.  Be- 


250 

fore  leaving  Strassburg,  however,  I  had  my  wound  attended 
to.  For  want  of  care,  it  had  become  very  painful.  The  sur- 
geon ordered  me  to  have  it  dressed  at  every  convenient  place, 
else  it  might  give  me  much  trouble.  I  did  so  afterwards  at 
Colmar  and  at  Muehlhausen,  whereupon  it  healed  very  rap- 
idly. 

The  gentleman  who  had  undertaken  to  act  as  our  driver 
was  a  very  interesting  person.  His  name  was  Anstett.  He 
had  been  an  officer  in  the  French  army  under  the  old  Napol- 
eon, was  more  than  fifty  years  of  age,  had  seen  much  of  the 
world,  and  better  days,  but  was  still  full  of  fun  and  anecdote, 
fond  of  good  wine,  and  replete  with  amusement  and  instruc- 
tion. He  knew  most  everything  that  was  going  on  and  almost 
everybody  of  distinction.  He  was  a  brother  of  the  well-known 
Russian  diplomatist,  Baron  Anstett,  who,  also  a  native  of 
Strassburg,  had  been  in  the  Russian  diplomatic  service  as 
early  as  1801,  was  one  of  the  Russian  plenipotentiaries  at  the 
Vienna  Congress,  and  Ambassador  of  Russia  at  the  German 
Diet  at  Frankfort  for  nearly  twenty  years.  At  this  time  he 
was  still  in  that  position,  but  died  a  year  or  two  afterwards 
at  Frankfort.  I  had  seen  him  often  in  Frankfort,  and  at  one 
time  had  occasion  to  call  upon  him  for  one  of  my  friends. 
Our  man  Anstett,  though  perhaps  ten  years  younger,  re- 
sembled him.  He  did  not  speak  respectfully  of  his  diplo- 
matic brother,  who  had  been  doing  his  best  against  Napoleon 
while  he  had  been  fighting  for  him.  Our  friend  was  not  a 
Republican  but  an  out-and-out  Bonapartist.  At  that  time, 
however,  Republicans  and  Bonapartists  worked  together 
against  the  July  Kingdom,  and  I  heard  in  Strassburg,  as  well 
as  in  Muehlhausen,  at  our  evening  meetings  with  Republicans, 
both  the  "Marseillaise"  and  the  Napoleonic  chanson,  "La 
redingote  grise,"  and  "Adieu  Rose,  adieu  Pierre,  et  le  sac 
sur  le  dos,  il  quitte  sa  chaumiere,  et  se  croit  un  heros." 

We  drove  that  evening  and  part  of  the  night  only  twelve 
miles,  the  Republican  horse  furnished  by  our  Strassburg 
friend  being  rather  a  conservative  traveller.  Early  in  the 


IN  FRANCE  251 

morning  we  passed  the  once  free  imperial  German  city  of 
Schlettstadt,  which  now  makes  a  rather  poor  showing.  Through 
a  most  charming  country,  the  beautiful  Vosges  Mountains  to 
our  right,  the  Black  Forest  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine  to 
our  left,  we  reached,  about  noon,  Colmar,  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment for  the  department  of  the  Upper  Rhine  (Haut-Rhin). 
We  called  upon  the  gentlemen  whose  addresses  we  had  gotten 
at  Strassburg.  One  was  the  judge  of  the  highest  court  there ; 
but  he,  as  well  as  the  other  gentlemen,  mostly  lawyers,  were 
all  stout  Republicans.  They  showed  us  every  kindness  and 
attention.  They  advised  us  to  address  ourselves  to  the  pre- 
fect, who,  they  said,  was  a  very  honest  and  open-hearted  man, 
and  might  be  induced  to  give  Mr.  Engelmann  a  passport  to 
Havre.  We  went  the  next  day  to  the  prefect,  a  rather  young, 
handsome  and  noble-looking  man,  who,  with  much  regret  that 
he  could  not  comply  with  our  wishes,  said  he  had  no  power  to 
change  the  disposition  which  his  colleague  in  Strassburg  had 
made  concerning  us.  If  we  had  come  into  his  department  in 
the  first  place,  he  would  perhaps,  considering  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  case,  have  issued  a  passport  for  Havre. 
But,  he  added,  "You  need  be  in  no  hurry,  and  I  will  not 
trouble  you  if  you  stay  here  for  some  time. ' ' 

Colmar  is  a  beautiful  place.  In  the  evening  we  went  to 
the  theatre  and  saw  an  excellent  comic  actor  from  Paris  in  a 
very  amusing  comedy. 

The  seats  in  the  stage  to  Muehlhausen  were  all  taken, 
and  I  could  only  send  my  trunk  along.  So  we  concluded  to 
foot  it  to  that  place.  The  hitherto  fine  weather  had  now 
changed ;  it  rained  frequently,  and  on  account  of  a  very  heavy 
shower  we  had  to  pass  the  night  in  a  solitary  roadside  inn. 
But  fortunately  in  the  stage  which  passed  by  in  the  morning 
we  found  empty  places,  and  we  got  to  Muehlhausen  before 
noon.  With  great  cordiality  we  were  received  by  M.  Fay, 
an  employee  of  the  stage-office,  who  at  once  introduced  us  to 
a  number  of  his  friends  and  to  the  leader  of  the  Republicans, 
Counselor-at-law  Schwarz.  These  immediately  promised  to 


252 

procure  a  passport  for  Theodore,  and  also  one  for  me  if  I 
should  choose  to  accompany  him.  My  passport  was  originally 
given  to  a  M.  Huetschler,  commis  chez  Dolfus,  Mieg  &  Cie. 
Its  personal  description  and  age  suited  me  pretty  well,  but 
the  last  visee  was  for  Dijon,  and  not  for  Paris  or  Havre.  But 
our  friends  said  it  had  about  a  dozen  visees  and  stamps  on  it, 
and  that  gens  d'  armes,  as  a  rule,  were  bad  readers;  and  that 
further,  when  they  saw  seals  and  stamps,  they  were  easily 
satisfied,  particularly  if  the  travelers  were  in  the  royal  stages. 
Theodore  received  the  passport  of  a  young  attorney. 

The  next  day  our  Republican  friends  had  arranged  a 
banquet  in  our  honor,  and  while  we  were  at  dinner,  Rauschen- 
platt,  who  had  commanded  the  attack  on  the  main  guard- 
house in  Frankfort,  made  his  appearance.  With  him  came 
Professor  Knoebel,  from  Rhenish  Bavaria,  against  whom  a 
warrant  of  arrest  had  been  issued  for  his  activity  in  the  Lib- 
eral cause.  He  was  the  son  of  old  Mr.  Knoebel,  who,  with  his 
whole  family,  was  also  on  his  way  to  Havre,  where  he  met  the 
Engelmann  family  and  crossed  the  ocean  with  them.  He 
settled  in  Belleville.  So  did  his  sons  Jacob  and  Charles.  One 
of  his  daughters  married  Mr.  Merck;  the  other,  Mr.  George 
Neuhoff.  Their  descendants  all  live  near  or  in  Belleville. 
Rauschenplatt  and  Knoebel  were  on  their  way  to  Liestal  in 
Switzerland,  the  frontier  of  which  is  only  a  few  miles  from 
Muehlhausen,  and  were  to  leave  in  an  hour.  I  could  not  find 
better  company.  Rauschenplatt  had  passed  some  years  in 
Switzerland,  and  knew  a  great  many  persons  there,  and  could 
give  me  a  good  introduction.  I  resolved  to  go  with  them.  I 
at  once  went  to  our  hotel  to  gather  my  things  and  to  arrange 
to  send  my  trunk  to  Zuerich  by  the  baggage-stage.  But  it 
was  not  to  be. 

When  Theodore  saw  that  I  was  to  depart  in  earnest,  he 
firmly  declared  that  he  would  go  along,  and  that  his  family 
must  leave  without  him.  This  I  was  bound  to  prevent,  what- 
ever might  be  the  cost.  I  told  Rauschenplatt  that  I  had 
changed  my  mind,  put  the  passport  in  my  pocket,  and  my  fate 


IN  FRANCE  253 

was  decided  forever.  For  a  better  understanding,  I  may  here 
remark,  that  ever  since  we  left  Strassburg,  Theodore  and  1 
had  repeatedly  discussed  the  subject  of  our  near  future.  Of 
course,  if  he  did  not  go  to  Havre,  his  family  would  have  to 
leave  without  him,  and  Switzerland  was  the  only  place  to  go 
to.  But  if  there  was  a  chance  of  joining  them,  he  was  bound 
to  attempt  it.  We  had  learned  enough  to  know  that  his  stay- 
ing in  Switzerland  with  a  view  to  a  political  change  in  Ger- 
many would  be  without  object.  He  was,  however,  very  anx- 
ious that  I  should  go  with  him  to  America.  But  my  case 
was  very  different.  The  thought  of  going  so  far  away  from 
toy  family,  whom  I  loved  so  much,  without  almost  any  hope 
of  ever  seeing  them  again,  weighed  heavily  on  my  mind.  Be- 
sides, while  I  respected  the  American  people,  and  admired 
their  institutions,  I  was  convinced  that  the  social  life  there 
was  not  to  be  compared  with  that  in  Europe ;  that  while  they 
had  superior  political  insight  and  wisdom,  there  was  there  a 
lack  of  taste  and  culture  which  would  make  the  country  in- 
dividually very  distasteful  to  me.  The  idea  of  living  amongst 
men  to  whom  I  could  not  speak  in  my  native  language,  who 
could  not  understand,  or  if  they  did,  could  not  appreciate 
what  I  wanted  to  say,  who  had  lived  in  an  entirely  different 
sphere  of  thought,  was  anything  but  pleasant  to  me.  While 
I  had  self-confidence  enough  to  think  that  I  could  make  my 
way  in  Switzerland  by  pursuing  my  profession,  I  doubted 
exceedingly  that  I  could  do  so  in  the  United  States,  and  to 
change  my  occupation  was  a  hazardous  undertaking.  The 
primeval  forest  had  no  attraction  for  me.  Mountains  and 
lakes  and  woods  and  brooks,  I  admired  as  much  as  anyone, 
but  it  was  men  that  it  was  my  delight  to  mingle  with  and  to 
study. 

In  my  detailed  narrative  of  this  period,  where  I  stated 
fully  my  reasons  against  immigration,  the  following  lines  are 
found:  "For  America  spoke  my  personal  safety  (for  many 
of  our  friends  in  Strassburg  had  expressed  fears  that  the 
German  Bund,  that  is  to  say,  Austria  and  Prussia,  would 


254 

force  the  Swiss  authorities,  if  not  to  deliver  up  the  Frank- 
fort refugees,  at  least  to  drive  them  out  of  Switzerland,  and 
then  there  would  have  been  no  place  for  us  to  go)  ;  and  there 
spoke  further  my  disgust  with  the  whole  political  situation  in 
Europe,  —  and  my  love." 

In  resolving  to  go  with  Theodore  I  told  him  that  under 
all  circumstances  I  considered  it  to  be  my  duty  to  bring  him 
to  his  family,  as  I  had  been,  though  involuntarily,  the  cause 
of  his  separation.  As  for  going  to  America,  I  could  not  now 
definitely  make  up  my  mind,  since  I  would  be  somewhat  in- 
fluenced by  letters  from  home,  which  would  reach  me  in 
Havre.  I  had  written  to  my  family  through  friends  from 
Strassburg.  From  Belfort,  after  determining  to  accompany 
Theodore  to  Havre,  I  had  written  to  Charles  again,  directing 
him  to  send  letters  for  me  through  the  house  of  Langer  and 
Wanger,  with  whom,  as  Theodore  told  me,  his  father  had  been 
in  correspondence,  and  on  whom  he  would  call  at  Havre  to 
arrange  his  financial  affairs. 

After  Rauschenplatt  and  Knoebel  had  left  us  on  their 
way  to  Switzerland,  we  passed  the  evening  in  interesting  con- 
versation, with  a  large  company  of  fiery  Republicans,  inter- 
rupted from  time  to  time  by  the  singing  of  songs  and  patriotic 
toasts. 

The  next  morning,  on  the  15th  of  April,  we  left  Muehl- 
hausen  in  the  stage  bound  for  Paris.  One  of  our  Muehlhausen 
friends  who  went  with  us  as  far  as  Belfort  gave  us  the  pass- 
word of  the  "Amis  du  peuple,"  and  introduced  us  to  a  fel- 
low-passenger, an  artist,  quite  an  interesting  young  man  of 
the  school  of  St.  Simon,  the  socialist,  who  indeed  was  the 
only  passenger  with  whom  we  had  any  conversation  during 
the  whole  trip.  Belfort  is  hidden  in  rocks,  and  the  fortifica- 
tions and  the  citadel  on  high  cliffs  appear  to  be  of  the  most 
formidable  character.  There  were  no  end  of  passport  vex- 
ations at  that  time  in  France.  Wherever  we  stopped  to 
change  horses  gens  d'  armes  asked  for  our  passports.  As  ours 
were  none  of  the  best,  we  of  course  felt  very  uneasy  at  first. 


IN  FBANCE  255 

But,  as  we  had  been  told,  it  was  after  all  a  mere  formal  mat- 
ter. To  look  over  twelve  passports  in  a  few  minutes  was  not 
an  easy  matter,  and  as  ours  were  covered  with  a  multitude 
of  stamps  and  visees,  they  seemed  to  be  very  satisfactory. 

At  ten  o  'clock  at  night  we  stopped  a  short  time  for  supper 
at  Lure  in  the  Cote  d'  Or,  and,  as  I  ran  my  eyes  over  a  copy 
of  the  ' '  Constitutional, ' '  I  read  to  my  surprise  the  news  of  the 
starting  of  some  five  hundred  Poles  from  Besancon  and  Avig- 
non to  Switzerland  with  the  intention  of  crossing  over  into 
Germany.  Of  course  they  were  too  late. 

By  Vesoul  and  Langres  we  reached  Chaumont  at  night 
and  followed  the  course  of  the  Aube  River.  On  the  morning 
of  the  17th  we  got  to  Bar-sur-Aube.  "While  the  stage  waited 
here  for  breakfast  I  went  over  the  field  where  in  1814  the 
great  battle  was  fought  between  the  allied  powers  and  Napo- 
leon. The  situation  of  Bar-sur-Aube  in  a  more  advanced 
season  of  the  year  must  be  a  beautiful  one.  In  the  afternoon 
we  reached  the  old  and  interesting  city  of  Troyes  on  the 
Seine.  It  has  a  magnificent  cathedral,  but  we  had  only  time 
to  view  it  from  the  outside.  Next  morning,  the  18th  of  April, 
Provins  was  passed,  and  the  road  now  became  very  lively  with 
innumerable  wagons,  carriages  and  stages,  and  travelers  on 
foot.  At  Charenton,  where  the  Marne  and  Seine  rivers  unite, 
we  had  a  beautiful  view  of  Paris  and  its  charming  environs. 
And  in  an  hour  more  we  reached  the  barriere.  "We  drove 
along  the  west  side  of  the  river  to  the  Pont  Neuf,  where  we 
crossed  it,  passed  the  Tuilleries,  and  landed  at  last,  late  in  the 
afternoon,  at  the  bureau  of  the  Messageries  Roy  ales  in  the 
Rue  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires.  The  Hotel  de  la  Normandie 
had  been  recommended  to  us,  but  it  was  full.  The  porter  who 
carried  our  baggage  in  a  handcar,  brought  us  to  the  Hotel 
Sully,  in  the  Rue  du  Mail. 

PARIS 

We  had  at  once  to  deposit  our  passports  at  the  office. 
Tired  by  the  four  days  and  three  nights  of  uninterrupted 


256  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

riding,  we  took  a  good  nap  for  some  hours,  but  afterwards 
roamed  about,  visiting  the  splendid  galleries  of  Vero  Deodet 
and  D 'Orleans,  the  latter  in  the  Palais  Royal,  in  which  the 
thousand  "articles  de  Paris,"  jewelry,  millinery,  prints  and 
pictures  were  tastefully  displayed  under  a  brilliant  illumina- 
tion. At  midnight  the  garden  of  the  Palais  Royal  and  the 
adjoining  streets  were  still  crowded  with  people.  Hoping  to 
find  some  of  our  exiled  friends  in  the  Estaminet  Hollandais, 
which  is  a  place  of  resort  for  the  Germans,  we  entered  the 
establishment,  but  found  no  one  we  knew.  We  then  went 
back  to  the  hotel. 

Next  morning  we  hunted  up  Mr.  Savoye,  who,  since  the 
Hambach  meeting,  had  made  Paris  his  residence,  and  with 
whom  I  had  remained  in  correspondence.  He  had  sacrificed 
his  high  and  lucrative  position  at  home,  and  was  now  living 
away  from  his  family  in  a  mansard  room  in  the  Rue  Richelieu 
engaged  in  writing  for  French  and  German  reviews  for  a  liv- 
ing. We  learned  from  him  that  Theodore  '&  family  had  passed 
through  Paris  on  the  16th;  that  Mr.  Engelmann  had  called 
to  see  him,  but  had  not  found  him  at  home ;  and  that  they  in- 
tended to  leave  Havre  on  the  20th  of  April.  So  we  had  not 
much  time  to  spare  at  Paris,  though  Savoye  supposed  that  the 
Engelmanns  would  be  delayed  longer.  Savoye  and  other 
friends  tried  to  persuade  me  to  remain  in  Paris;  but  though 
I  should  have  liked  to  live  there  better  than  any  other  place 
in  the  world,  I  was  determined  to  go  to  Havre,  even  if  I  did 
not  sail  for  the  United  States.  Indeed,  being  so  near,  I  could 
not  resist  seeing  those  friends  again  whom  I  loved  so  well. 

The  first  thing  we  did  was  to  visit  the  Louvre,  Savoye 
being  our  cicerone.  Unfortunately  it  was  the  time  of  what  is 
called  the  "Salon;"  that  is,  of  the  exhibition  of  the  paintings 
and  statuary  of  the  living  masters  of  all  schools.  But  strange 
to  say,  Paris  had,  at  that  time,  no  place  for  this  exposition, 
and  the  picture-gallery  of  the  Louvre  had  to  be  used.  All 
the  Louvre  treasures  were  covered  up  by  light  temporary 
wooden  walls,  on  which  the  new  pictures  were  hung.  To  be 


IN  FRANCE  257 

sure,  there  were  some  excellent  pictures  amongst  the  fifteen 
hundred  exhibited;  but  they  were  after  all  poor  substitutes 
for  the  Raphaels,  the  Titians,  the  Paul  Veroneses,  the  Reubens- 
es,  the  Rembrandts,  and  the  other  old  masters. 

The  new  school  appeared  to  me  to  be  of  a  rather  melo- 
dramatic order,  too  fond  of  representing  the  extravagant  and 
the  horrible.  The  rooms  of  the  antique  statues  were  not  open 
every  day,  and  the  day  we  were  there  was  one  on  which  they 
were  closed.  The  garden  of  the  Tuileries  was  then  visited, 
and  there  I  met  Pulaski,  who  had  been  my  guest  at  Heidel- 
berg. He  also  remonstrated  against  my  going  to  America. 
How  I  regretted  that  circumstances  did  not  allow  me  to  stay 
in  Paris.  At  night  we  went  to  the  grand  opera  where  Auber  's 
"Gustave,  or  Le  Bal  Masque"  was  presented.  The  music  of 
this  opera  is  only  mediocre.  I  had  heard  before  as  good  and 
better  singers,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  La  Blache,  who 
represented  Gustave.  But  as  regards  scenery,  grouping  (in 
the  ballet  of  the  masqued  ball  there  were  at  least  three  hun- 
dred persons  on  the  floor),  and  costumes,  I  had  never  seen 
anything  like  it  in  my  life.  And  yet  it  was  hard  to  tell 
whether  the  audience,  the  hundreds  of  ladies  in  the  boxes,  all 
in  evening  dress  covered  with  diamonds,  in  this  large,  splen- 
didly illuminated  house,  was  not  even  a  fairer  sight  than  the 
scenic  wonders  on  the  stage. 

Early  the  next  morning  we  met  Savoye  again,  and  some 
other  old  friends,  exiles  too,  and  made  another  run  through 
the  beautiful  city,  visiting  the  morgue,  (where  we  saw  three 
corpses,  one  a  woman  taken  the  day  before  from  the  river,) 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  Notre  Dame,  which  disappointed  me  some, 
the  Pont  d'  Arcole,  immortalized  by  Boerne,  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes,  with  the  cedars  from  Lebanon,  the  Pantheon,  and 
the  Palace  of  the  Luxemburg  and  its  gardens.  We  took  din- 
ner at  a  fine  restaurant  in  the  Palais  Royal,  and  visited  the 
Bourse  for  a  few  minutes  only,  for  the  hour  for  our  departure 
for  Havre  was  near.  At  six  o  'clock  we  took  the  stage,  bidding 
a  cordial  adieu  to  our  friends,  and  after  a  very  long  drive 


258  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

through  the  city  and  the  suburb  of  St.  Denis,  we  reached  the 
open  country. 

Favored  by  the  most  delightful  weather,  we  arrived  early 
in  the  morning,  at  the  old  and  charmingly  situated  city  of 
Rouen  on  the  Seine,  which  is  there  a  mighty  river  bearing 
ocean-vessels.  We  stopped  long  enough  to  have  a  view  of  one 
of  the  finest  cathedrals  in  the  world.  Leaving  the  city,  the 
stage  had  to  climb  up  a  very  high  hill.  We  got  out  and  walked, 
and  turning  our  faces  back  from  time  to  time,  we  enjoyed  a 
most  glorious  view.  Further  on  we  frequently  met  with 
beautiful  scenery  in  the  valley  of  the  Seine.  We  passed 
through  Caudebec,  Bolbec,  and  came  soon  to  a  point  where 
the  Seine  expands  so  that  one  can  hardly  see  the  opposite 
bank  on  which  Harfleur  is  situated.  Passing  Harfleur  we 
came  near  the  coast,  and  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the 
21st  of  April  we  entered  Havre. 

Right  at  the  gate  stood  some  friends  of  the  Engelmann 
family,  one  of  whom  was  Mr.  Henry  Abend,  who  knew  Theo- 
dore; and  with  a  loud  exclamation  of  "Here  they  are"  (Da 
sind  sie  ja),  they  shook  hands  with  us  and  took  us  at  once 
to  the  house  where  the  Engelmanns  lodged.  How  shall  I 
find  words  to  describe  our  meeting?  Old  and  young  em- 
braced and  kissed  us,  tears  of  joy  running  from  their  eyes. 
I  felt  somewhat  embarrassed,  and,  I  believe,  Sophie  was  in  the 
same  situation.  The  first  hour,  we  had  to  recount  our  ad- 
ventures, and  they  seemed  to  consider  our  happy  escape  and 
our  timely  arrival  at  Havre  almost  as  a  miracle. 

THE  HAVRE  EMIGRANTS 

Havre  at  that  time  was  the  most  prominent  port  of  em- 
igration for  the  south  and  west  of  Germany,  as  well  as  for 
Switzerland  and  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  The  French  themselves 
did  not  emigrate  much;  but  Alsace  and  Lorraine  were  old 
German  provinces,  and  their  inhabitants  had  still  the  old  Teu- 
tonic disposition  and  energy  to  wander  (Wandertrieb).  From 
the  north  of  Germany,  emigration  at  that  period  was  not  fre- 


IN  FRANCE  259 

quent,  and  to  sail  either  from  Bremen  or  Hamburg  made  the 
voyage  much  longer  and  more  dangerous,  as  the  North  Sea 
and  the  narrowest  part  of  the  English  channel  had  to  be 
passed. 

The  place  was  crowded  with  emigrants,  particularly  from 
Rhenish  Bavaria,  Several  families  heretofore  acquainted  had 
agreed  to  take  the  same  vessel.  The  Engelmann  family,  to- 
gether with  their  friends,  whom  they  had  taken  along  with 
them  from  Imsbach,  numbered  some  fifteen  persons.  The 
family  of  Mr.  Abend  counted  some  ten  persons,  and  the 
Knoebel  family  as  many  more.  Charles  Schreiber,  an  old  fel- 
low-student of  mine  from  Jena,  to  avoid  prosecution,  had  also 
come  to  Havre;  he  at  once  joined  us,  as  did  Mr.  Humbert, 
quite  a  young  man,  who  had  fought  at  Frankfort  and  after 
a  hair-breadth  escape  had  found  his  way  to  Havre.  He  waa 
then  quite  sick  from  exposure,  and  on  board  was  taken  with 
typhoid  fever.  Mr.  Engelmann  and  Mr.  Abend  had  picked 
out  several  other  respectable  families  from  their  neighbor- 
hood, amongst  others  that  of  Mr.  Hoefer,  who  was  an  apoth- 
ecary and  had  a  large  chest  of  medicines  with  him.  Jean,  a 
young  Pole,  Mr.  Engelmann  had  brought  with  him  from  Ims- 
bach; and  there  was  also  a  cousin  of  his,  Mr.  Peter  Engel- 
mann, who  had,  when  quite  young,  gone  to  the  United  States, 
and  had  been  engaged  in  various  pursuits  in  New  Orleans. 
He  had  made  a  return  visit  to  Germany,  and  had  now  joined 
Mr.  Engelmann  to  go  back  to  the  United  States.  Mr.  Pin- 
gret,  the  pharmacist,  whom  I  had  met  in  the  stage,  a  few 
weeks  before,  on  my  return  from  Wuerzburg,  was  also  a  fel- 
low-passenger. By  my  notes  I  see  that  there  was  also  a  Polish 
officer  on  board,  but  I  have  no  recollection  of  such  a  person. 
With  the  exception  of  two  old  persons  from  Switzerland,  and 
three  or  four  young  Frenchmen,  the  whole  company,  who 
had  agreed  to  take  the  same  ship,  was  made  up,  it  might  be 
said,  of  friends  and  acquaintances.  About  a  hundred,  thus, 
took  passage  on  the  Logan  (named  after  a  celebrated  Indian 
chief)  of  Boston,  Captain  Joshua  Atkins. 


260  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

It  was  a  deck  passage.  French  packet-boats  ran  between 
Havre  and  New  York  about  once  every  month.  They  were 
fine  vessels,  but  the  fare  was  very  high,  —  some  five  hundred 
francs  per  passenger.  The  great  bulk  of  the  emigrants,  par- 
ticularly where  the  families  were  large,  could  not  afford  such 
luxury.  But  as  the  passenger  business  was  very  brisk,  many 
merchant  vessels  were  so  fitted  out  as  to  make  the  trip  in  them 
quite  agreeable  for  persons  used  to  comfort.  American  ves- 
sels would  bring  cotton  to  Havre.  There  they  discharged 
their  freight,  and  arranged  commodious  berths  on  their  decks. 
These  wooden  ships  had  no  cabins  to  speak  of.  A  few  rooms 
for  the  officers,  and  perhaps  one  or  two  for  casual  passengers, 
were  all  the  accommodations.  The  Engelmanns  and  Abends, 
having  first  engaged  passage,  and  having  been  active  in  get- 
ting a  great  many  other  families  to  take  the  same  vessel,  had 
the  pick  of  the  places.  They  took  the  berths  nearest  to  the 
cabin.  A  space  between  the  cabin  and  the  berths,  about  eight 
feet  wide,  was  put  at  their  disposal.  Tables  and  other  furni- 
ture were  placed  there,  and  privacy  was  obtained  by  means 
of  curtains  which  marked  off  a  dressing-room  for  our  ladies 
and  a  dining-room.  There  was  also  here  an  opening  to  the 
upper  deck,  large  enough  to  let  in  light  and  air  when  the 
weather  permitted  it.  The  berths  were  commodious,  and  were 
screened  by  curtains.  The  vessel  was  very  clean,  quite  dif- 
ferent from  the  French  ones,  and,  taken  altogether,  the  small 
number  and  character  of  the  passengers,  and  the  cleanliness 
with  which  everything  was  kept,  made  the  voyage  hardly  less 
comfortable  than  one  in  our  present  steamers  in  the  second 
cabin. 

We  might  have  stayed  longer  in  Paris,  for  neither  the 
passengers  nor  the  Logan  were  ready  for  sailing  when  we 
arrived.  The  passengers  had  to  provide  themselves  with  the 
needful  provisions  for  the  long  voyage.  And  although  the 
better-situated  among  them  had  brought  along  pickles,  pre- 
serves, dried  fruit  and  other  delicacies,  their  main  stock  had 
to  be  purchased  at  Havre.  According  to  the  regulations,  a 


IN  FRANCE  261 

certain  amount  of  articles  had  to  be  laid  in  —  so  much  per 
head,  calculating  the  trip  at  sixty  days,  though  it  was  usually 
made  in  forty.  The  regulation  provisions  were  potatoes,  rice, 
ship-biscuits,  salt,  etc.  Those  who  had  brought  no  bedding 
had  to  get  it  in  Havre.  But  besides  provisions  most  families 
laid  in  wine  (which  at  that  time  was  very  good  and  cheap), 
tea,  coffee,  chocolate,  vinegar,  hams,  anchovies,  herrings,  flour, 
cognac,  eggs  and  many  other  articles.  These  purchases  re- 
quired time  and  great  care  and  prudence ;  for  the  Havre  peo- 
ple engaged  in  provisioning  emigrant  vessels  were  arrant 
cheats,  and  took  advantage  of  all  who  did  not  understand 
French. 

At  the  house  of  Wanger  and  Langer,  I  was  received  with 
unexpected  cordiality,  owing,  perhaps,  to  the  fact  that  one  of 
their  chief  clerks  was  an  intimate  friend  of  my  early  youth, 
Mr.  Krauss,  who  had  been  with  me  at  the  Model  School  in 
Frankfort  and  besides  had  been  a  near  neighbor  of  ours.  He 
belonged  to  one  of  the  richest  and  most  respected  families. 
They  offered  to  act  as  my  agents  in  forwarding  letters  to 
Frankfort  and  in  sending  letters  and  packages  from  my  family 
to  the  United  States.  They  gave  me  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  their  correspondent  in  New  York,  and  for  six  months 
before  I  took  up  a  permanent  residence,  very  promptly 
attended  to  my  business.  A  few  days  after  my  first  call  upon 
them  they  sent  me  letters  they  had  received  from  my  mother, 
Charles,  Augusta  and  Pauline,  in  answer  to  letters  that  I  had 
written  from  Belfort  on  my  journey  to  Havre.  My  family 
was  still  in  very  great  anxiety,  fearing  that  we  might  be 
arrested  hi  France.  These  letters  were  of  the  most  affection- 
ate and  loving  character;  only  mother  could  never  suppress 
what  she  really  felt ;  though  she  gave  me  her  blessing,  she  did 
not  conceal  the  pain  I  had  given  her  by  blasting  her  most 
cherished  hopes.  She  had  a  right  to  feel  aggrieved,  but  even 
her  complaints  showed  how  deeply  she  loved  me.  I  may  here 
say  that  my  great  desire  to  assuage  her  grief  for  my  actions, 
and  for  disapopinting  the  great  expectations  she  had  formed 


262 

of  my  future  career  at  Frankfort,  made  me  struggle  more 
energetically  for  success  in  the  country  I  had  adopted. 

All  the  letters  urged  me  in  the  most  moving  way  to  leave 
Europe  with  the  Engelmann  family,  whom  they  held  in  high- 
est regard.  They  feared  that  I  was  not  safe  anywhere  but 
in  the  United  States,  and,  though  they  only  alluded  to  it,  I 
felt  that  they  also  feared  that  if  I  was  near  Germany  I  might 
engage  in  another  rash  attempt  at  revolution  that  might  turn 
out  even  more  fatally.  Their  health,  even  Pauline's  life, 
would  depend  upon  my  resolution.  Charles  pretty  strongly 
intimated  that  he  himself  with  many  friends  would  soon 
follow  me,  and  that,  once  settled  in  the  United  States,  he 
would  have  the  whole  family  join  us.  Even  mother  and  sis- 
ter held  out  hopes  of  our  meeting  in  the  New  World.  These 
letters  and  many  more  which  I  received  from  the  family  after 
my  arrival  in  the  United  States  are  very  precious  to  me.  I 
wish  I  could  embody  some  of  them  in  these  reminiscences. 
Though  they  would  lose  by  translation,  they  would  show  such 
a  high  culture  of  head  and  heart,  such  elevated  feelings,  and 
such  noble  and  generous  sentiments,  as  to  convince  any  one 
how  much  I  lost  by  my  separation  from  my  home.  Among 
the  very  best  of  them  were  those  from  my  dear  sister  Augusta. 

It  needed  only  this  to  put  an  end  to  all  doubt  and  hesita- 
tion. Even  if  I  had  not  had  a  strong  motive  already  to  remain 
with  my  dear  friends,  the  wishes  of  my  family  would  have 
determined  my  leaving  Europe  with  them.  There  was  some- 
thing very  strained  in  the  situation.  While  the  Engelmanns 
considered  me  as  the  one  whom  they  had  to  thank  for  return- 
ing to  them  their  son  and  brother,  my  family  were  overflow- 
ing with  gratitude  to  Theodore  that  he  was  the  cause  of  taking 
me  to  Havre.  That  a  little  sixteen  year  old  girl  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  it,  neither  party  suspected. 

Some  five  or  six  days  after  our  arrival,  word  came  from 
the  Logan  that  she  was  ready  to  sail.  So  we  all  went  on  board 
and  installed  ourselves  as  comfortably  as  possible.  But  a 
contrary  high  wind  had  set  in,  and  we  had  to  remain  in  the 


IN  FRANCE  263 

harbor  two  days  more.  I  occupied  most  of  my  time  in  writ- 
ing letters  home.  I  had  so  much  to  say,  so  much  to  explain. 
I  also  wrote  to  some  of  my  friends  in  various  parts  of  Ger- 
many, and  to  Mr.  Savoye  at  Paris,  enclosing  a  note  to  the 
"National,"  edited  by  the  celebrated  Armand  Carrel,  and 
one  to  the  "Tribune,"  in  which  I  expressed  our  thanks  to 
all  the  many  French  Liberals  who  had  so  warmly  assisted  us 
during  our  stay  and  journey  in  France,  and  bidding  all  our 
friends  a  cordial  farewell.  Augusta  wrote  me  later  that  this 
note  had  been  republished  in  some  of  the  papers  in  Germany 
and  had  given  much  satisfaction  to  our  friends  and  a  good 
deal  of  umbrage  to  the  "Black  Coats"  at  Frankfort,  mean- 
ing the  senators  and  judges.  Our  main  object  in  this  note 
was  to  anger  Mr.  Chopin  d'Arnouville,  the  Strassburg  prefect, 
and  to  encourage  other  exiles  to  defy  the  French  police. 

Visiting  one  of  the  "Cabinets  de  Lecture,"  my  attention 
was  attracted  by  a  piece  of  news  I  found  in  the  "Constitu- 
tional" which  quite  interested  me.  On  the  night  of  the  19th 
or  20th  of  April,  while  we  were  still  in  Paris,  the  Hotel  de 
Normandie,  where  we  had  first  intended  to  stop,  but  were 
turned  away  from  because  the  house  was  full,  was  raided 
by  the  police,  who  made  every  guest  get  up,  even  the  ladies, 
and  show  their  passports.  Two  Polish  officers  were  found, 
who  were  taken  instantly  to  the  Belgian  frontier.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  this  visit  was  intended  for  us.  There  were  plenty 
of  spies  in  Paris,  who  were  probably  informed  of  our  presence, 
and  who  supposed  that  we  had  stopped  at  this  hotel,  kept  by 
a  Liberal.  And  even  if  this  were  not  so,  if  our  passports  had 
been  closely  scanned,  we  might  still  have  been  found  out  and 
have  been  carried  off  to  Belgium,  or  been  arrested  and  pun- 
ished for  violation  of  the  directions  of  the  prefect  of  Strass- 
burg. It  was  one  of  the  many  happy  accidents  that  helped 
us  in  our  flight. 

At  last  on  the  first  of  May,  1833,  the  anchors  were  lifted. 
It  was  the  King's  fete  day  (St.  Philippe).  All  public  build- 
ings and  many  private  houses  were  flagged,  as  were  the  ships 


264  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

in  the  harbor.  Bells,  were  ringing,  guns  firing  from  the  forts, 
troops  parading,  and  bands  playing,  when  we  were  towed  by 
a  steamer  out  of  the  port.  The  steamer  left  us.  The  sails 
were  unfurled,  and  under  the  shadow  of  the  stars  and  stripes 
we  struck  out  into  the  open  sea,  Europe  fading  out  of  sight 
for  the  last  time  for  many  of  us. 


CHAPTER  XII 
From  Havre  to  St.  Louis 

11  Auf,  Matrosen,  die  Anker  geliehtet, 
Segel  gespannt,  den  Compass  gerichtet! 
Heimat,  adieu! 
Morgen  da  gent's  in  die  wogende  See." 

— W.  Gerhard. 

I  was  one  of  the  first  victims  of  seasickness.  John  Scheel 
and  myself,  an  hour  or  so  after  we  had  left  the  port,  went 
down  into  the  hold  to  fill  a  large  glass  bottle  covered  with 
wickerwork,  —  a  demijohn  holding  a  gallon,  —  with  wine,  of 
which  we  had  brought  a  cask  for  the  daily  use  of  the  family. 
It  took  us  some  time  before  we  found  the  place,  and  a  good 
while  to  let  off  the  wine,  as  the  ship  had  already  commenced 
pitching  quite  severely.  The  air  in  the  hold  was  very  bad, 
and  I  felt  a  little  unwell  when  I  came  up  again,  yet  ate  a 
hearty  dinner.  But  immediately  after  I  hastened  on  deck 
and  paid  my  tribute  to  old  Neptune.  I  stayed  on  deck  until 
it  became  dark  and  a  rough  wind  drove  me  down  into  our 
quarters.  Almost  everybody  had  been  taken  ill.  It  was  a 
most  realistic  sight,  worthy  of  the  pencil  of  a  Teniers,  or  the 
pen  of  a  Zola.  The  two  mates  administered  relief  to  the 
ladies,  and  so  kindly  and  considerately  that  they  at  once 
became  very  popular  with  them.  Quite  early  in  the  morning 
I  went  on  deck  again,  and  by  noon  I  was  as  well  as  ever  and 
remained  so  all  through  the  voyage.  John  Scheel  also  quickly 
recovered,  and  he  and  I  did  the  cooking  for  the  family  the 
second  day  we  were  out.  Sophie  and  Marianna  Scheel  were 
soon  in  very  good  condition,  and  they  had  the  principal  man- 


agement  of  the  household.  Theodore  Engelmann  unfortu- 
nately was  more  or  less  seasick  all  the  time,  and  so  were  sev- 
eral others,  both  ladies  and  gentlemen.  Amongst  my  papers  is 
found  a  pretty  detailed  description  of  our  voyage  on  the 
Logan,  as  also  a  narrative  of  our  arrival  in  New  York  and  our 
journey  from  thence  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  This  last  is  con- 
tained in  several  numbers  of  the  "Ausland,"  a  weekly  journal 
then  published  by  Cotta,  the  celebrated  publisher  and  book- 
seller in  Stuttgart.  I  use  those  papers  now  for  reference 
merely,  as  their  insertion  would  swell  these  memoirs  to  an 
inordinate  size. 

A  TRANSATLANTIC  VOYAGE  IN  1833 

On  recovering  from  my  first  short  illness  I  looked  around. 
The  sum  of  my  observations  was  that  the  ocean  was  vast  and 
our  vessel,  which  in  the  harbor  I  had  thought  of  almost  gigan- 
tic dimensions,  small.  Passing  through  the  channel  we  met 
hundreds  of  sails,  but  once  in  the  Atlantic  we  found  ourselves 
very  much  alone.  "What  interested  me  most  was  seeing  our  little 
bark  struggling  in  the  immensity  of  the  sea,  against  the  wind 
and  the  waves,  the  quiet,  cool  and  determined  action  of  the 
sailors  climbing  up  to  the  highest  masts  and  taking  in  the  sails 
as  they  were  wildly  whipped  by  the  storm,  with  the  tops  of  the 
masts  almost  touching  the  rising  waves.  The  quick  and  silent 
obedience  to  the  words  of  command  given  by  the  captain  with 
the  utmost  "sang  froid"  in  the  midst  of  a  tumultuous  storm, 
astonished  me  and  raised  man  in  my  estimation.  After  all  the 
most  interesting  phenomenon  to  man  is  man. 

But  in  the  long  run  the  sea  became  monotonous.  Sun- 
rise and  sun-set  are  far  less  beautiful  than  they  are  on  land, 
viewed  from  an  eminence.  On  land  the  sunlight  illuminat- 
ing the  mountain  tops,  leaving  the  lower  regions  in  the  dark, 
then  in  succession  casting  its  rays  into  the  valleys,  coloring 
the  rocks  and  forests,  rivers  and  lakes,  with  a  thousand  hues, 
offers  an  enchanting  view  to  our  eyes.  In  all  my  voyages  I 


FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  267 

admired  the  sea  most  when  it  was  relieved  by  the  sight  of 
some  shore,  however  distant. 

Sophie,  while  in  the  harbor,  and  during  the  first  few 
days  on  board  of  the  vessel,  when  most  of  the  family  were 
helpless,  had  been  so  attentive  to  all  who  needed  assistance, 
had  performed  what  she  considered  her  duty  so  kindly,  had 
shown  such  abnegation  of  self,  that  the  love  I  already  felt  for 
her  became  still  warmer.  A  young  and  generous  girl,  brought 
up  in  a  family  enthusiastic  for  liberty,  I  appeared  to  her,  I 
believe,  as  a  sort  of  a  hero,  or  at  least  as  a  very  interesting 
young  man.  A  few  evening  walks  on  the  deck  and  we  had 
plighted  our  troth  to  one  another.  When  we  told  her  parents 
and  the  rest  of  the  family  of  our  engagement,  they  most 
cordially  sanctioned  it.  Indeed,  they  had  already  treated  me 
as  a  son  and  brother,  and  I  found  it  most  natural  that  I 
should  become  one  in  fact. 

If  I  looked  upon  this  voyage,  long  as  it  was,  with  far 
more  pleasure  than  most  of  my  companions,  the  reason  is  not 
far  to  be  sought.  The  evenings,  so  long  and  dreary  to  others, 
were  but  too  short  for  us.  Yet  there  was  no  sign  of  senti- 
mentality in  our  love.  We  were  very  fond  of  one  another,  but 
did  not  show  it  in  society,  and  mixed  freely  with  the  crowd. 
Save  our  own  family,  and  some  near  friends,  I  do  not  think 
that  anybody  knew  of  our  engagement.  When  about  fourteen 
days  out  a  ship  was  signaled,  which  evidently  sought  to  com- 
municate with  us.  She  soon  came  near  enough  to  hail  us 
through  the  speaking  trumpet.  It  was  the  Eagle  of  London, 
coming  from  South  America.  The  captain  entered  a  boat 
and  came  on  board  the  Logan.  He  told  our  captain  that  he 
had  picked  up  part  of  the  crew  of  an  English  vessel,  which 
had  taken  fire  and  was  lost  with  all  on  board  except  some 
twenty  persons,  who  had  saved  themselves  in  the  long  boat  and 
who  had  been  for  some  ten  days  almost  without  water  or  any- 
thing to  eat.  He,  the  captain  of  the  Eagle,  was  now  himself 
short  of  provisions.  Our  captain  at  once  supplied  him  with 
flour,  biscuits  and  other  articles.  The  wife  of  the  captain  of 


268  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  burnt  vessel  was  amongst  the  saved.  Our  girls  at  once 
collected  a  lot  of  preserves,  chocolate,  fruit,  etc.,  and  asked 
the  captain  of  the  Eagle  to  give  them  to  the  poor  widow.  The 
English  captain  was  very  much  moved  by  the  sympathy  shown 
by  the  captain  and  the  passengers  of  our  vessel,  and  offered 
to  take  letters  from  us  to  London  to  be  forwarded  to  our 
friends.  I  embraced  the  opportunity  and  wrote  a  few  hasty 
lines  to  my  mother.  They  were  dated  "Atlantic  Ocean,  Lati- 
tude 44,  Longitude  24,  west  of  Greenwich."  It  contained  the 
news  of  my  engagement  with  Sophie.  The  letter  reached  its 
destination  very  quickly.  It  delighted  the  heart  of  my 
mother.  She  knew  now  that  I  would  settle  down  in  the  New 
World  and  not  think  of  new  adventures. 

Not  long  after  this  interesting  meeting  we  had  what  we 
landsmen  considered  quite  a  storm.  The  captain  called  it  only 
a  stiff  breeze.  It  made  most  of  us  seasick  again.  It  was 
hard  to  walk ;  our  meals  had  to  be  taken  with  great  trouble ; 
often  all  the  eatables  and  all  the  plates  were  thrown  on  the 
floor.  The  deck  openings  had  to  be  closed,  for  the  waves 
swept  over  the  deck  and  we  were  left  almost  in  darkness.  A 
calm  followed,  which  was  even  worse  than  a  moderate  storm. 
The  waves  were  still  somewhat  rough,  and,  there  being  no 
wind,  the  ship  rolled  from  side  to  side  like  a  drunken  man. 
Owing  to  the  danger  of  icebergs,  which  came  very  far  south 
at  this  season  of  the  year,  our  captain  had  taken  quite  a 
southerly  course,  and  towards  the  end  of  May  we  found  our- 
selves in  the  Gulf  Stream.  We  had  a  thunder-shower  almost 
every  evening,  the  brilliant  phosphorescent  lightening  of  the 
sea  at  night  in  the  wake  of  the  vessel  becoming  still  more 
luminous. 

"Our  life  on  the  ocean  wave"  was  a  very  pleasant  one 
to  most  of  us.  We  had  one  cabin  passenger,  Doctor  Toland  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina.  He  had  graduated  in  America, 
but  had  been  attending  lectures  in  the  hospitals  at  Paris  for 
a  couple  of  years.  As  he  had  picked  up  some  French,  he 
could  converse  with  a  good  many  of  our  passengers  and  with 


FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  269 

some  of  our  family  particularly.  Our  girls  when  on  deck 
were  always  invited  by  the  captain  to  sit  near  the  cabin. 
There  were  camp-stools,  and,  if  the  weather  was  raw,  blankets 
were  furnished.  Doctor  Toland  was  every  inch  a  gentleman. 
His  medical  services  were  rendered  to  everybody  gratuitously. 
Our  Charlotte  was  quite  charmed  with  him.  I  made  it  a 
point  to  speak  to  him  as  often  as  possible,  in  order  to  brush 
up  my  English. 

The  best  of  order  was  kept  by  the  passengers  themselves 
after  the  first  tumultous  days,  when  the  mates  exercised  what 
police  functions  were  necessary.  A  committee  was  appointed 
to  make  rules  and  regulations  as  to  the  distribution  of  wood 
and  water,  which  were  furnished  by  the  ship,  and  as  to  the 
turns  the  different  passengers  had  to  take  at  the  kitchens 
(frame  shanties  on  the  upper  deck),  etc.  Disputes  were  also 
to  be  settled  by  it.  This  committee  held  its  sessions  in  the 
long-boat  in  the  presence  of  all  who  had  an  interest  in  the 
proceedings.  At  one  time  there  arose  a  difficulty  of  some 
importance,  which  the  committee  had  to  settle.  The  captain 
had  stated  that  it  was  one  of  the  ship 's  rules  not  to  allow  the 
playing  of  cards  for  money.  To  this  rule  there  was  a  general 
assent.  On  one  Sunday,  however,  two  of  the  passengers,  I 
believe  Schreiber  was  one  of  them,  were  playing  a  game  of 
chess.  Suddenly  the  first  mate  came  down,  (which  he  did 
very  often,  as  he  was  fond  of  our  company,)  and,  seeing  the 
game  they  were  playing,  kicked  the  board  from  the  box  on 
which  it  was  placed  by  the  players,  telling  them  very  excitedly 
that  no  one  should  break  the  Sabbath  on  his  ship.  There 
was  a  row  at  once,  and  there  would  have  been  a  fight  if  some 
of  the  older  gentlemen  had  not  interfered.  The  committee, 
however,  was  charged  to  complain  of  his  rudeness  and  to 
demand  satisfaction.  A  note  was  sent  to  the  captain,  stating 
the  facts  and  asking  that  Follansbee,  which  was  the  name  of 
the  first  mate,  should  be  reprimanded.  The  captain  after  a 
considerable  time  made  answer  that  he  regretted  very  much 
the  occurrence,  and  was  sorry  that  Follansbee  had  suffered 


270  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

himself  to  be  carried  away  by  the  strict  religious  views  he  had 
in  regard  to  the  holiness  of  the  Sabbath.  There  was  nothing 
in  this,  however,  of  a  reprimand.  But  the  matter  was  not 
carried  any  farther,  principally  because  Follansbee  was  other- 
wise a  very  excellent  man  and  very  popular  with  the  pas- 
sengers. 

We  had  much  singing,  even  some  dancing,  when  the 
weather  was  fair.  The  singing  took  place  also  in  the  long- 
boat, and  at  one  time  a  very  ludicrous  scene  happened.  Old 
Mr.  Knoebel,  who  had  been  a  school-teacher  and  an  organist, 
acted  as  a  sort  of  musical  director.  One  afternoon  the  full 
chorus  had  just  commenced  a  song  when  one  of  the  mates  ran 
out  of  the  cabin  gesticulating,  and,  coming  near  the  singers, 
exclaimed,  "lower,  lower."  Mr.  Knoebel,  not  knowing  what 
the  matter  was,  stopped  the  singing,  when  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers, translating  what  the  mate  had  said,  told  Knoebel 
that  they  should  sing  lower  (tiefer).  Mr.  Knoebel  seemed 
surprised,  but  told  the  chorus  to  go  on,  but  to  take  a  lower 
key,  and  he  intoned  the  first  words  accordingly.  ' '  Shut  up, ' ' 
the  mate  cried,  "shut  up,  if  you  cannot  sing  lower"  (meaning 
less  loud).  "The  captain  has  been  up  all  night,  and  is 
just  taking  a  nap."  I  can  yet  see  Mr.  Knoebel  stand- 
ing before  me,  puzzled,  but  at  once  yielding  to  the  musical 
dictation  of  the  mate,  and  with  a  loud  voice  beginning  again 
the  first  notes  in  a  deeper  key ;  and  I  almost  hear  the  laughter 
of  the  crowd  after  the  explanation. 

Mr.  Frederick  Hilgard  had  charged  us  with  a  small  box 
of  books  for  his  son  Theodore,  who  had  left  for  the  United 
States  in  1832,  which  box  we  had  with  our  hand-baggage.  It 
contained,  amongst  other  very  readable  books,  all  the  dramas 
of  Shakespeare,  translated  by  Schlegel  and  Tieck.  I  made 
much  use  of  these  books,  and  I  read  Shakespeare  with  the 
greatest  pleasure  again.  Very  few  people,  even  if  well,  can 
read  on  ship-board. 

All  at  once  we  were  informed  that  a  little  girl  had  seen 
the  light  of  day  on  board  the  Logan.  It  was  to  be  baptized, 


FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  271 

and  the  captain  was  to  stand  as  godfather  in  the  name  of  the 
ship.  The  captain  took  the  matter  quite  seriously.  He  him- 
self, mates  and  sailors  dressed  themselves  up.  Michael  Rup- 
pelius,  a  young  minister  of  the  Engelmann  party,  betrothed 
to  Friedericka,  a  sweet  and  beautiful  girl,  who  had  been 
raised  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Engelmann,  performed  the  ceremony 
according  to  the  Lutheran  ritual.  A  large  circle  was  formed 
around  the  minister  and  the  candidate  for  baptism.  The 
captain  solemnly  stood  as  godfather  to  little  Logana.  The 
name  of  the  family  to  which  she  belonged  I  have  forgotten. 

But  in  spite  of  the  pleasant  company  and  of  many  inter- 
esting incidents,  we  all  became  more  or  less  weary.  It  is  an 
old  saying  that  night  is  no  man's  friend.  And  so  with  the 
sea.  The  ancient  Greeks,  though  from  their  geographical 
position  one  should  think  they  would  love  the  ocean,  were  by 
no  means  fond  of  it.  Old  Homer  in  speaking  of  the  sea  fre- 
quently calls  it  the  "dread  desert,"  "the  dark  irresistible 
ideep,"  "the  wild  and  refractory  sea,"  "the  terrible  waste," 
"the  dark  and  rolling  water."  One  of  the  Hebrew  prophets 
says:  "There  is  sorrow  on  the  sea." 

Our  delicacies  were  running  short;  we  were  put  on  half 
rations  of  wine;  the  brandy  for  grog  and  punch  gave  out. 
In  a  word,  after  nearly  six  weeks'  sailing  we  all  longed  for 
land.  At  last  it  was  sighted ;  but  the  wind  was  not  favorable. 
We  tacked  about  until  the  evening  of  the  seventeenth  of  June. 
We  had  been  out  forty-nine  days  when  we  sailed  into  the  bay 
of  New  York.  Innumerable  fishing  boats  and  other  coasting 
vessels  were  shooting  around  us,  and  at  last  a  very  swift  little 
sailing  craft  made  fast  to  the  Logan,  and  a  very  genteel-look- 
ing young  gentleman  got  on  board,  inquiring  for  news.  We 
did  not  have  much  to  tell  him,  as  we  had  been  anticipated  by 
some  fast  sailing  vessels.  Shortly  afterwards  the  pilot  came 
on  board.  Our  captain  abdicated  and  put  him  in  complete 
command.  He  looked  to  us  like  a  deposed  king.  The  lead 
was  thrown  out  constantly,  the  men  singing  the  fathoms  in  a 
kind  of  melancholy  tone.  We  passed  late  in  the  evening 


272 

between  Long  Island  and  Staten  Island.  The  aromatic  smell 
that  came  from  well-timbered  Staten  Island  was  a  real  enjoy- 
ment. How  delightful  it  was  to  have  at  last  a  quiet  rest. 
Early  in  the  morning  all  were  on  deck  in  the  best  of  spirits ; 
all  suffering  was  forgotten.  Staten  Island  in  all  its  splendor 
was  before  us.  It  was  then  covered  with  splendid  forests, 
from  which,  however,  shone  out  in  small  openings  very  hand- 
some villas.  Long  Island  opposite  was  also  well-timbered,  and 
here  and  there  appeared  clusters  of  houses.  It  was  a  charm- 
ing sight.  At  a  distance  we  could  already  see  the  forests 
of  masts  lying  before  the  city  and  some  of  the  higher  church 
steeples  of  New  York.  Behind  us  we  saw  the  Narrows,  which 
we  had  passed  in  the  dark,  and  particularly  the  two  newly 
erected  forts,  Lafayette  and  Washington.  At  the  quarantine 
Mr.  Humbert,  who  had  not  quite  recovered  from  the  typhoid 
fever,  and  one  sailor,  who  was  sick  when  we  left  Havre,  were 
retained.  All  of  us  could  have  gone  on  the  steam  ferry-boat 
to  New  York,  but  most  of  us  stayed  on  the  ship  a  day  or  two 
longer,  not  being  willing  to  separate  ourselves  from  our  bag- 
gage, and  the  ship  not  being  allowed  to  enter  New  York 
before  it  was  thoroughly  cleaned. 

NEW  YORK  IN  1833 

After  visiting  Staten  Island,  where  on  the  heights  we 
found  pleasure-gardens,  with  wonderful  prospects,  we  took  a 
little  schooner,  put  all  our  luggage  into  it,  went  to  the  cus- 
tom-house, where  there  was  a  very  slight  examination,  and 
arrived  in  New  York  too  late  in  the  night  to  obtain  a  fair  view 
of  the  great  city  from  the  sea ;  we  had  to  console  ourselves  with 
the  idea  that  we  would  enjoy  that  beautiful  prospect  upon 
leaving  New  York  for  the  North  River. 

It  was  late  when,  on  the  recommendation  of  our  captain, 
we  entered  the  Commercial  Hotel  on  Broad  Street.  It  was  a 
very  fair  house,  but  managed  very  differently  from  the  con- 
tinental hotels.  The  gentlemen  had  a  reading-room  and  the 
ladies  a  parlor.  The  dining-room  was  different  from  the  sup- 


FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  273 

per  and  breakfast-room.  If  you  wanted  to  drink  or  smoke, 
you  had  to  go  to  a  room  in  one  of  the  wings  of  the  hotel,  where 
you  sipped  your  wine,  brandy  or  lemonade  standing.  You 
had  to  pay  for  all  meals,  whether  you  took  them  or  not.  There 
were  a  variety  of  eatables  on  the  table,  but,  excepting  the 
roasts,  everything  was  poorly  cooked.  All  things  were  placed 
on  the  table  at  once,  and  there  was  no  change  of  plates  except 
for  dessert.  Very  broad  knives  were  used  in  place  of  forks 
and  spoons.  In  the  best  hotels  at  that  time,  forks  had  only 
three  prongs,  while  in  the  common  run  of  hotels  and  taverns, 
and  in  all  families  in  the  country,  two-prong  forks  were  the 
rule.  It  was  clear  that  with  such  forks  nothing  could  be 
eaten  but  meat. 

Our  bed-rooms  were  good,  and  there  were  also  baths  in 
the  basement.  What  astonished  us  most  was  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  meals  were  dispatched.  All  these  things  are 
somewhat  changed  now,  and  the  usual  charge  now  is  that  the 
foreigners  use  the  knife  in  lieu  of  the  fork.  When  we  left 
Europe  knives  could  never  have  been  used  for  forks  and 
spoons,  as  their  blades  were  quite  short  and  their  points  sharp 
and  rounded. 

Next  day  I  roamed  through  the  city,  called  upon  the 
Frankfort  consul,  Mr.  Wisman,  who  was  well  acquainted  with 
my  family,  and  offered  to  act  as  a  sort  of  commissioner  for  me 
in  receiving  letters  and  packages  and  in  sending  them  accord- 
ing to  directions.  I  assisted  Mr.  Engelmann  to  arrange  some 
exchange  and  money  business.  New  York  contained  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people  at  that  time,  and  the 
principal  street,  Broadway,  was  very  crowded.  But  still  there 
was  not  that  vivacious  and  tumultuous  life  pulsating  through 
the  masses  that  you  see  in  the  large  continental  cities,  and 
most  of  all  in  Paris.  Regarding  Broadway,  I  say  in  my  man- 
uscript: "It  is  a  fine  wide  street  and  more  than  a  league 
(three  miles)  long.  In  the  stores,  which  occupy  the  lower 
stories  in  almost  every  house,  are  goods  of  comfort  and  lux- 
ury piled  up  in  the  largest  quantities.  In  Paris  three  Broad- 


274  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ways  could  be  decorated  with  that  mass  of  goods  and  would 
show  to  far  greater  advantage.  They  do  not  show  any  taste 
here  in  exposing  their  goods.  When  the  weather  is  fine, 
Broadway  for  some  time  in  the  afternoon  is  the  favorite  prom- 
enade for  the  fair  sex  and  the  elegant  world  generally.  We 
saw  a  great  many  beautiful  ladies.  Their  slender  and  grace- 
ful figures  and  small  feet  excited  our  admiration.  The  fash- 
ions were  partly  English  and  partly  French,  the  English 
predominating."  For  a  more  special  description  of  all  the 
important  buildings,  of  the  public  squares,  of  the  harbor  with 
its  innumerable  shipping,  and  of  the  beautiful  steamers  and 
packet-boats,  I  must  refer  to  my  manuscript. 

We  visited  the  navy-yard  at  Brooklyn,  and  saw  there  in 
the  docks  two  frigates  nearly  completed,  the  Sabine  and  the 
Savannah,  of  sixty-two  guns  each.  They  were  giants  com- 
pared with  our  bark  Logan.  We  could  see  everything  in 
these  yards  without  being  vexed  by  permissions  or  other 
formalities. 

The  evenings  we  passed  very  pleasantly  amongst  our- 
selves. Sometimes  we  had  the  company  of  our  captain,  Doctor 
Toland,  and  the  first  mate,  both  of  whom  had  become  very 
much  attached  to  us.  Before  we  left  New  York  we  published 
in  the  name  of  all  the  passengers  a  note  of  thanks  to  the  cap- 
tain and  officers  for  their  excellent  conduct  and  management, 
recommending  them  to  the  public  favor.  On  the  second  day 
Mr.  Abend,  his  brother  Joseph  Abend,  Mr.  Engelmann,  Theo- 
dore, Louis  and  I  appeared  in  the  Marine  Court  and  made 
our  first  applications  for  becoming  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  The  proceedings  in  court  were  ludicrously  informal. 
A  case  was  being  pleaded  before  the  court,  but  only  the  judge 
seemed  to  pay  any  attention  to  it.  There  was  running  to  and 
fro  through  the  house.  Lawyers  were  talking  amongst  them- 
selves ;  some  had  their  feet  on  the  desks  before  them.  In  one 
corner  of  the  room  a  clerk  took  our  oaths,  reading  them  aloud 
to  us.  We  had  to  kiss  the  Bible.  The  whole  thing  was  done 
in  two  minutes. 


FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  275 

Mr.  Fred  Wisman  had  introduced  me  to  some  of  his 
friends,  and  I  found  also  an  old  schoolmate  by  the  name  of 
Engel,  who  showed  me  the  greatest  attention.  On  one  or  two 
evenings  we  Frankfort  people  passed  some  very  agreeable 
hours  together  talking  of  old  times  over  some  excellent  wine. 

UP  THE  HUDSON 

On  the  twenty-seventh,  the  families  Abend  and  Engel- 
mann,  who  from  now  on  traveled  all  of  the  way  to  St.  Louis 
together,  went  on  board  one  of  the  fine  North  River  steamers. 
Both  families,  long  before  leaving  home,  had  resolved  to  set- 
tle in  Missouri.  Godfrey  Duden,  a  highly  respected  and  intel- 
lectual gentleman,  who  some  years  before  had  visited  the  Uni- 
ted States  and  spent  some  time  in  Missouri,  even  buying  there 
a  small  farm  in  Montgomery  County,  not  very  far  from  the 
old  town  of  St.  Charles  on  the  Missouri  River,  where  he 
resided  for  two  summers  and  one  winter,  on  his  return  home 
published  a  book  of  considerable  size,  in  which  he  set  forth 
the  advantages  of  settling  in  the  State  of  Missouri  in  a  very 
persuasive  manner.  It  was  so  well  written  that  it  at  once 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  higher  class  of  the  German  peo- 
ple who  had  formed  plans  of  emigration.  Mr.  Duden,  whose 
high  character  was  well  known,  could  have  had  no  selfish 
motives  in  his  representations,  and  his  "report,"  as  he  had 
called  the  book,  became  the  highest  kind  of  authority.  Mr. 
Theo.  Hilgard,  Sr.,  at  that  time  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals 
in  Rhenish  Bavaria,  who  had  for  some  years  revolved  the  idea 
of  emigrating  to  the  United  States  in  his  mind,  had  corre- 
sponded with  Mr.  Duden,  who  resided,  I  believe,  at  Duessel- 
dorf,  had  thoroughly  informed  himself  of  his  views  and  had 
become  convinced  that  Missouri  was  an  ''Eldorado"  for  Ger- 
man emigrants.  The  best  land  was  to  be  obtained  there  at  the 
government  price  of  $1.25  per  acre.  The  climate  was  almost 
tropical;  cattle  could  be  raised  without  feeding  them  even  in 
winter;  game  was  so  abundant  that  there  was  hardly  any  use 


276  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

for  other  meat.  Sickness,  if  people  were  prudent,  could  be 
easily  avoided. 

So  we  started  for  the  far  West,  and  now  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  New  York  in  all  its  splendor.  Before  us  the 
large,  well-built  city,  with  its  many  towering  steeples,  en- 
circled by  innumerable  masts,  and  Castle  Garden,  a  promon- 
tory, changed  at  that  time  into  a  popular  pleasure-garden. 
Steamboats  were  shooting  about  us  in  every  direction,  and 
hundreds  of  fishing  boats  were  dancing  on  the  waves;  and, 
turning  our  eyes  from  the  city,  we  beheld  Long  Island  and 
Staten  Island  with  their  beautiful  forests.  Steaming  into  the 
North  River  we  had  the  New  Jersey  shore  and  the  heights  of 
Hoboken  on  our  left.  The  Hudson  has  not  the  clear  trans- 
parent color  of  the  Rhine,  but  for  a  hundred  miles  it  is  a 
far  mightier  river  than  the  Rhine,  bearing  upon  its  bosom 
the  largest  steamers  and  ocean  vessels.  Majestic  timber  lines 
its  banks,  from  time  to  time  interrupted  by  openings,  on 
which  handsome  villas  and  flourishing  towns  appear.  We 
had  left  New  York  early  in  the  afternoon,  but  it  was  quite 
late  in  the  night  when  we  reached  the  most  romantic  scenery 
on  the  river  at  West  Point,  where  the  celebrated  military 
academy  is.  There  was  some  moonlight,  however,  so  that  we 
could  form  some  idea  of  the  enchanting  spot,  which,  in  later 
years,  we  never  could  visit  or  pass  without  heart-rending 
pangs.  We  could  not  foresee  when  we  went  by  at  this  time, 
dancing  on  the  deck  of  our  steamer  to  the  tunes  of  a  large 
band,  kept  for  the  amusement  of  the  passengers  on  many  of 
these  river  steamers,  that  it  was  to  become  the  last  resting- 
place  of  our  dear  eldest  son,  Theodore. 

In  the  morning  we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  Catskill  Moun- 
tains —  known  to  us  from  the  legends  of  Washington  Irving. 
The  Rhine  has  its  beauties,  which  the  Hudson  has  not ;  but  on 
the  other  hand  the  Hudson  surpasses  the  Rhine  by  far  in  the 
majestic  grandeur  of  its  scenery.  Owing  to  some  delay,  we 
reached  Albany  late  in  the  evening.  In  the  morning  we  took 
a  stroll  through  the  city,  which  rises  from  the  river  to  a  con- 


FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  277 

siderable  height.  It  had  at  that  time  a  sort  of  Holland  look. 
All  the  houses  were  of  red  brick.  The  streets  were  wide  and 
very  clean. 

FROM   ALBANY  TO   BUFFALO   IN   A   CANAL-BOAT 

At  Albany  we  took  a  canal-boat.  Of  course,  it  looked 
very  diminutive  compared  with  our  "swift  and  sure"  river- 
steamer.  We  chartered  one  boat  for  ourselves,  the  Engel- 
manns  and  Abends.  Peter  Engelmann  had  remained  in  New 
York,  and,  I  believe,  also  Jean,  the  young  Pole.  All  of  these 
canal-boats  are  about  the  same  in  length,  from  sixty  to  seventy 
feet,  and  are  about  fifteen  feet  wide.  The  deck  is  quite  flat, 
with  no  handrails  at  the  sides,  for  the  boats  have  to  pass  un- 
der numerous  low  bridges  which  span  the  canal.  On  account 
of  our  large  quantity  of  baggage  we  could  not  take  a  packet- 
boat,  which  is  fitted  for  passengers  only,  travels  somewhat 
faster,  and  charges  a  little  more.  In  the  middle  of  the  canal- 
boat  there  was  a  large  place  for  goods,  where  our  baggage 
was  stored.  In  front  was  the  ladies'  cabin  and  in  the  stern 
was  the  gentlemen's.  We  went  on  board.  The  boat  was 
weighed  to  fix  the  toll  she  had  to  pay. 

Traveling  in  canal-boats  in  some  respects  is  pleasant. 
There  is  hardly  any  motion  perceptible.  The  boat  glides  along 
like  a  swan.  Then  again,  where  a  series  of  locks  occur,  there 
is  often  sufficient  delay  to  allow  passengers  to  leave  the  boat 
and  to  walk  ahead,  meeting  the  boat  on  some  bridge,  from 
which  it  is  easy  to  get  on  again.  For  a  few  miles  we  followed 
the  Hudson  River  northward,  but  at  Troy  our  direction  was 
westward  along  the  Mohawk  valley.  At  Junction  there  were 
many  locks;  we  got  off  and  went  to  see  some  of  the  nearby 
scenery.  All  at  once  we  were  struck  by  a  wonderful  view. 
The  Mohawk  River  in  nearly  its  full  breadth  here  rushed  over 
rocks  sixty  feet  high.  The  color  of  the  river  was  very  dark. 
I  had  seen  some  fine  waterfalls  in  Tyrol,  but  none  appeared 
to  me  so  majestic.  No  human  dwelling  was  near  the  steep 
rocks.  The  dark  waves,  when  they  struck  the  rocks,  formed 


278  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

a  white  foam.  The  tall  forest  trees  which  bordered  the  river 
banks,  and  perhaps  also  the  idea  that  we  stood  here  on  a  spot 
visited  not  very  long  ago  by  wild  and  warlike  red  men,  made 
a  deep  impression  on  me.  It  gave  me  the  first  impression  of 
being  in  a  new  and  strange  land. 

The  canal  follows  the  course  of  the  Mohawk,  and  at  Little 
Falls  the  river  breaks  over  high  rocks  again  and  forms  a  beau- 
tiful fall.  We  passed  the  then  very  flourishing  towns  of 
Utica,  Rome,  Manlius,  Syracuse,  Canton,  Montezuma,  Pal- 
myra, and  I  could  not  but  smile  at  the  pretentious  names. 
We  reached  Rochester  early  in  the  morning.  It  was  even 
then  a  beautiful  city.  An  impenetrable  forest  only  twenty 
years  before  covered  the  spot  where  there  are  now  rows  of  fine 
stores,  elegant  public  buildings,  an  observatory,  and  numerous 
churches.  It  had  already  a  population  of  20,000  people.  The 
Genesee  River  runs  through  the  city.  Above,  it  has  a  fall  of 
considerable  height,  which  sets  in  motion  large  flouring  mills, 
and  immediately  below  the  city  there  is  a  fall  of  100  feet,  the 
view  of  which,  as  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun  illuminated  it,  was 
really  sublime. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  points  on  the  Erie  Canal  was 
Lockport,  with  a  long  string  of  finely  built  double  locks.  Of 
course  we  proceeded  very  slowly.  It  was  the  fourth  of  July ; 
and  there  was  much  firing  of  guns  throughout  the  whole  city. 
We  all  took  our  double-barrelled  guns  and  gave  salutes.  Our 
firing  between  the  high  walls  of  the  locks  reverberated  like 
thunder,  and  the  people  of  the  place  were  much  pleased  and 
cheered  us  loudly.  At  Tonawanda,  the  canal  comes  close  to 
the  Niagara  River.  It  was  of  a  most  beautiful  color,  and  is  as 
wide  as  the  Rhine  at  Bingen.  Here  we  were  only  about  ten 
miles  from  the  falls  and  were  told  that  if  the  wind  had  been 
favorable  we  could  have  heard  the  roar  of  these  immense 
waters.  We  all  regretted  that  we  could  not  stay  at  Buffalo, 
but  our  party  was  too  large  and  an  excursion  to  the  falls  would 
have  been  too  expensive. 


FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  279 

At  last  we  reached  Buffalo  on  the  lake.  It  was  then  a 
rising  city  with  many  fine  buildings,  but  of  course  it  was  a 
mere  village  as  compared  with  the  present  large  and  beautiful 
city.  Our  goods  were  at  once  transported  on  board  the  lake- 
steamer  plying  between  Buffalo  and  Cleveland.  The  steamer 
was  to  leave  the  same  evening.  Mr.  Engelmann,  I  believe,  also 
Theodore  and  myself,  took  a  view  of  the  city.  There  was  a 
great  crowd  at  the  public  square  near  the  Mansion  House, 
watching  a  parade  of  military  companies  and  firemen.  Some 
two  hundred  Indians,  men,  women  and  children,  also  happened 
to  be  around  the  square,  having  come  to  negotiate  land-sales 
with  the  Indian  agency  located  at  Buffalo.  They  were  what 
were  called  civilized  Indians.  They  had  donned  something 
like  a  European  dress.  Men  and  women  wore  high  felt  hats 
and  light  blue  trousers.  But  all  had  blankets  slung  around 
them,  and  moccasins  for  shoes.  The  babies  (papooses)  were 
tied  on  little  boards,  which  the  squaws  had  strapped  to  their 
backs.  Some  of  the  women  were  slender  and  good-looking. 
The  men  had  high  Roman  noses.  Upon  the  whole  they  looked 
very  much  like  gypsies. 

We  went  into  the  Mansion  House,  where  a  banquet  in 
honor  of  the  day  was  in  progress,  and  upon  paying  a  dollar 
each  we  had  a  very  good  dinner,  and  after  dessert  some  thun- 
dering speeches.  There  was,  of  course,  a  good  deal  of  gun- 
firing  and  letting  off  of  Chinese  fire-crackers.  This  was  our 
first  experience  of  a  Fourth  of  July  in  America,  and  after  a 
lapse  of  fifty  years  the  day  is  celebrated  generally  in  the  same 
way  as  we  saw  it  at  Lockport  and  Buffalo.  Sophie  and  I  had 
no  idea  then  how  many  happy  days  we  should  pass  at  various 
times  in  Buffalo  and  at  the  Falls,  which  she  was  always  so 
delighted  to  see  and  which  it  was  always  so  hard  for  her  to 
part  from. 

Our  boat  did  not  leave  until  the  next  morning.  We  had 
fine  meals  and  good  cabins,  though  the  lake-boats  at  that  time, 
were  not  as  elegant  and  comfortable  as  the  Hudson  River 
boats  and  as  the  lake-boats  became  in  years  after.  There 


280  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

were  about  three  hundred  deck  passengers,  mostly  Irish,  and 
some  Swiss.  The  view  on  the  lakes,  interesting  at  first,  soon 
becomes  monotonous.  The  shores  on  the  American  as  well  as 
on  the  Canadian  side  are  black.  We  met  large  numbers  of 
sailing  vessels  and  a  few  steamers,  some  under  the  English 
flag.  Some  of  the  passengers  got  seasick,  but  as  we  had  but 
lately  crossed  the  Atlantic  we  felt  no  inconvenience.  We  had 
left  Buffalo  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  reached  Cleve- 
land in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day. 

FROM  CLEVELAND  TO  THE  OHIO  VIA  THE  CANAL 

Cleveland,  now  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  in  the 
United  States,  in  which  in  later  years  we  were  to  pass  many 
pleasant  days,  was  then  a  small  place.  The  canal  from  thence 
to  the  Ohio  River  in  the  South  had  then  been  finished  only  a 
short  time,  and  led  in  great  part  through  a  wilderness.  The 
northern  and  middle  part  of  Ohio  is  low  and  flat,  but  eminently 
fertile  where  it  is  cultivated.  Dense  and  majestic  forests  lined 
the  canal  on  either  side,  and  were  interspersed  only  by  occa- 
sional clearings  for  farms  and  towns.  Instead  of  felling  the  im- 
mense trees  the  farmers  in  many  places  deadened  them  by 
cutting  rings  around  the  trunks.  After  a  while  they  fell 
down  and  were  burned  up.  But  the  stumps  still  remained, 
which  gave  the  cornfields  a  very  dreary  appearance.  It  began 
to  dawn  on  some  of  our  party  that  making  a  farm  in  the  woods 
was  no  easy  matter,  and  that  it  would  be  far  beyond  their 
strength  to  cut  down  the  trunks  and  grub  up  the  roots  of  such 
trees  as  we  saw  here. 

As  the  canal  followed  the  rivers  and  streams,  it  naturally 
led  through  low  places,  and  we  were  terribly  annoyed  by 
swarms  of  big  mosquitoes,  which  seemed  to  revel  in  our  fresh 
European  blood.  We  passed  by  Massillon,  followed  the  course 
of  the  Muskingum,  which  empties  into  the  Ohio  at  Marietta 
and  reached  Circleville  on  the  Scioto.  Here  are  some  very 
large  hills  called  mounds,  generally  supposed  to  have  been  the 


FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  281 

burying  places  of  races  long  passed  away.  On  one  of  these 
mounds,  of  a  somewhat  circular  form,  the  town  is  situated. 

Our  journey  was  here  interrupted  by  an  accident.  The 
canal  at  this  point  was- carried  over  the  river  by  a  wooden 
aqueduct,  which  had  fallen  down  the  day  before  our  arrival. 
The  canal  had  literally  fallen  into  the  river  and  was  im- 
passable for  some  twenty  miles.  An  incident  of  the  kind  was 
not  provided  for  in  our  contract,  and  here  we  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  learning  something  of  the  sharpness  of  the  Yankees. 
We  and  our  goods  had  to  be  transported  by  wagon  to  the  next 
boat-station,  twenty  miles  distant.  The  captain  wanted  to 
charge  us  with  the  expense  of  the  carriage,  which  was  con- 
siderable. We  protested.  After  a  long  and  lively  dispute 
with  the  agent  of  the  company,  and  only  after  we  threatened 
to  remain  on  the  boat  until  the  canal  was  repaired,  and  so  to 
compel  them  to  board  us  for  that  length  of  time,  did  we  suc- 
ceed in  throwing  the  biggest  part  of  the  expense  on  the  com- 
pany. It  was  my  first  attempt  at  pleading  law  in  the  United 
States. 

The  trip  by  land  was  rather  pleasant.  The  weather  was 
delightful,  the  forests  noble.  We  had  to  stop  over  night  at  a 
farmhouse.  This  was  a  new  experience.  The  farmer  was  a 
Pennsylvania  Dutchman,  and  the  farm  was  a  large  and  well 
kept  one.  A  big  two-story  log-house  furnished  ample  room. 
The  breakfast  was  good.  For  the  first  time  we  found  corn- 
bread  on  the  table.  It  looked  very  tempting.  The  crust  was 
well  done  and  of  an  attractive  brown  color.  We  took  it  for 
cake  or  pudding ;  but  when  we  tried  to  eat  it,  we  all  found  it 
abominable.  And  so'  we  men  found  the  corn-whiskey  detest- 
able, though  now  well-made  cornbread  is  to  us  delicious  and 
good  mountain-dew  corn-whiskey  delightful. 

I  met  on  this  land-trip  with  an  accident.  I  was  sitting 
on  a  wagon  filled  with  chests,  trunks  and  barrels,  containing 
part  of  our  goods.  One  wooden  trunk,  belonging  to  John 
Scheel,  was  on  top  of  the  load,  and  I  had  taken  my  seat  on  it. 
The  road  was  very  good  and  level,  but  from  time  to  time  it 


282  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENER 

ran  across  small  rivulets  forming  ditches.  When  crossing  such 
a  run  there  was  always  a  considerable  jerk.  I  had  warned  the 
driver  to  drive  slowly  over  such  places.  But  it  seemed  that  he 
neglected  the  warning,  or  could  not  hold  the  horses,  so  that 
at  one  of  these  places,  while  driving  quite  fast,  we  received 
such  a  shock  that  the  big  trunk  toppled  over  and  I  with  it. 
The  trunk  broke  in  pieces  and  part  of  it  fell  upon  me,  and 
yet  I  was  not  hurt  in  the  least.  It  was  a  most  lucky  escape. 

Chillicothe,  formerly  the  capital  of  Ohio,  was  the  largest 
place  on  the  canal  and  really  a  very  handsome  town.  We  were 
delayed  a  while  there,  and  we  young  men  took  a  very  refresh- 
ing swim  in  the  Scioto  River.  The  soil  appeared  exceedingly 
fertile.  The  corn  was  often  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  high. 
There  were  also  woods  near  the  town.  At  length  we  reached 
the  place  where  the  canal  was  navigable  again,  and  in  about 
twelve  hours  we  reached  Portsmouth  on  the  Ohio,  the  south- 
ern terminus  of  the  canal,  which  has  a  length  of  306  miles. 
On  the  Erie  and  Ohio  Canals  together  we  had  traveled  660 
miles. 

Portsmouth  was  then  a  small  place,  but  pleasantly  situ- 
ated. On  the  opposite  Kentucky  shore  fine  tall  forests  crowned 
the  bluffs  of  the  river,  which  is  nearly  as  wide  here  as  the 
Rhine  at  Mayence.  The  water,  however,  is  not  nearly  so  clear 
or  transparent  as  that  of  our  German  river.  It  is  only  in 
comparison  with  the  other  western  streams,  the  waters  of 
which  are  more  or  less  yellow  or  brown,  that  the  earlier 
French  settlers  could  have  called  it  "La  Belle  Riviere."  Here 
we  were  delayed  two  days.  Some  forty  boats  from  Cincinnati 
and  Louisville  passed  us,  but,  though  signaled,  did  not  land. 
The  inn  was  very  poor,  the  heat  excessive,  —  about  ninety 
degrees  Fahrenheit.  Our  effects  were  all  deposited  on  the 
wharf,  and  most  of  us  young  men,  finding  it  too  hot  to  sleep 
in  the  house,  slept  on  the  river-bank  near  our  goods,  wrapped 
up  in  blankets.  We  had  the  pleasure  also  of  bathing  in  the 
river.  At  last  the  steamboat  William  Parson  took  us  in  late 
in  the  evening.  The  next  morning  we  landed  in  Cincinnati. 


FROM  HAVEE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  283 

In  my  description  of  this  journey  I  called  Cincinnati  the 
"Queen  of  the  "West."  "It  is  built  on  the  hills  rising  from 
the  river  to  a  considerable  height.  In  the  regularity,  clean- 
liness and  beauty  of  its  buildings  it  surpasses  most  cities  of 
the  Union.  A  large  court  house,  four  market-houses,  the  Unit- 
ed States  Bank,  the  Athengeum,  and  the  theatre  are  some  of 
the  most  remarkable  buildings.  Twenty-five  churches  testify  to 
the  piety  of  its  thirty  thousand  inhabitants. ' '  This  was  writ- 
ten in  1833,  and  now  this  city  certainly  deserves  the  name  of 
"Queen,"  which  was  then  perhaps  somewhat  premature.  Ma- 
terially, intellectually  and  artistically  she  stands  second  to 
very  few  much  larger  cities.  What  pleasant  and  delightful 
days  have  Sophie  and  I  and  some  of  my  children  repeatedly 
spent  there !  To  the  German  element,  so  well  and  largely 
represented,  Cincinnati  owes  a  great  deal  of  her  high  repu- 
tation for  culture  and  prosperity. 

The  steamboats  on  the  Western  rivers  are  very  differently 
built  from  those  in  the  East.  They  are  high-pressure  boats. 
The  cabins  are  not  below,  but  on  the  deck.  Very  little  is  seen 
of  the  machinery.  The  cabins  are,  however,  comfortable 
enough,  even  elegant,  and  there  was  more  life  and  free  and 
easy  conversation  amongst  the  passengers  than  on  the  Hudson 
River  boats,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  passengers  were  mostly 
Southern  or  Western  people.  Shortly  below  Cincinnati  we  left 
the  State  of  Ohio,  and  Indiana  bordered  the  northern  bank. 
Some  very  handsome  towns,  such  as  Lawrenceburg,  Aurora, 
Rising  Sun,  and  Vevay,  were  now  passed.  Vevay  is  the 
county  seat  of  Switzerland  County,  and  here  and  at  some 
other  places  we  met  vineyards  reminding  us  of  our  old  home. 
We  heard  different  opinions  about  the  wine  made  there.  Some 
years  later,  however,  these  regions  and  the  country  around 
Cincinnati  became  celebrated  for  their  vineyards,  the  Catawba 
having  proved  the  proper  grape  for  the  western  parts  of  the 
United  States. 

We  soon  landed  at  Louisville,  the  commercial  capital  of 
Kentucky.  It  was  also  a  very  flourishing  city,  well  built  with 


284 

many  very  fine  public  buildings,  regularly  laid  out  with  wide 
streets.  Our  boat  did  not  go  any  farther,  and  we  had  to  take 
another  one  for  St.  Louis.  The  Ohio  River  has  here  a  con- 
siderable fall,  and  the  passage  was  —  when  the  river  was  low 
—  very  dangerous.  A  lately  cut  canal  (Portland  Canal) 
around  these  rapids  avoids  this  obstruction.  We  were  delayed 
nearly  a  whole  day.  We  saw  in  Louisville  many  Germans; 
most  of  them,  however,  belonged  to  the  lower  class.  They 
were  people  living  on  the  river  bank  —  levees  as  they  are 
called  in  the  West  —  engaged  in  loading  and  unloading  boats, 
or  keeping  low  boarding  houses  for  laborers  and  deck  hands. 
That  class  of  population  in  all  river  cities  is  of  a  bad  character. 
If  we  had  got  further  into  the  interior  of  Louisville,  we  should 
undoubtedly  have  found  countrymen  of  whom  we  would  not 
have  been  ashamed.  Our  new  boat  was  the  "Metamora,"  a 
very  fine  and  elegant  craft,  which  took  our  party  on  board  at 
the  most  reasonable  price. 

At  Louisville  we  put  our  feet  for  the  first  time  on  slave 
soil.  What  we  heard  here  and  what  we  saw,  (for  instance, 
negroes  chained  together  hauling  water  from  the  river,)  con- 
tributed to  our  detestation  of  the  institution  of  slavery  and 
confirmed  our  determination  not  to  settle  in  Missouri.  In  my 
narrative  I  find  here  a  rather  prophetic  passage:  "As  long 
as  the  Southern  States  uphold  the  institution  of  slavery,  so 
long  shall  I  believe  that  this  beautiful  structure  of  the  United 
States  will  break  down,  and  so  long  will  the  liberty  of  the 
whites,  in  which  they  now  rejoice,  be  only  a  half-deserved 
boon."  This  was  written  in  July,  1833.  In  his  ever  memor- 
able speech  before  the  Republican  State  Convention  in  1858 
at  Springfield,  of  which  convention,  I  may  remark  in  passing, 
I  was  the  president,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "I  believe  the  Union 
cannot  endure  half  slave  and  half  free. ' ' 

On  the  Indiana  side  the  Wabash  empties  into  the  Ohio; 
on  the  Kentucky  side  at  Smithfield,  the  Cumberland  River ;  and 
farther  below  at  Paducah,  the  Tennessee.  Both  are  rising 
places.  On  the  Illinois  side  is  the  small  town  of  Shawneetown ; 


FROM  HAVRE  TO  ST.  LOUIS  285 

and  where  the  Ohio  strikes  the  Mississippi,  there  were  a  few 
block  houses  called  Trinity,  a  little  above  where  the  city  of 
Cairo  now  stands  on  the  point  surrounded  on  the  west  by  the 
Mississippi  and  on  the  south  by  the  Ohio. 

The  mighty  Mississippi  surprised  me  much.  It  was  at 
the  junction  more  than  a  mile  wide.  Its  current  was  strong, 
the  color  of  it  nearly  like  loam.  Large  trunks  of  trees,  torn 
off  almost  daily  with  the  soil  on  which  they  stood  from  the 
low  banks  (bottoms)  of  the  river,  floated  on  the  surface;  often, 
however,  they  had  stuck  fast  in  the  bottom  of  the  river,  form- 
ing what  are  called  snags,  very  dangerous  to  navigation.  There 
are  a  great  many  islands  in  the  river,  and  so  it  is  not  always 
seen  in  its  full  width.  The  character  of  the  banks  is  peculiar. 
When  the  hills  (bluffs),  often  very  rocky,  are  the  boundary 
of  the  stream  on  one  side  for  many  miles,  on  the  other  side 
these  hills  lie  back  four  or  five  miles,  forming  what  are  called 
the  bottoms,  —  alluvial  soil,  immensely  rich,  and  at  that  time 
mostly  covered  by  very  tall  and  thick  forests.  Some  hundred 
miles  above  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers  are  splendid  hilly 
ranges,  with  perpendicular  rocks  enclosing  the  river.  One  of 
these  rocks  is  called  Grand  Tower,  another  the  Devil's  Bake 
Oven. 

We  passed  Cape  Girardeau,  an  old  French  settlement 
located  on  a  sort  of  peninsula.  St.  Genevieve  is  another 
French  town  on  the  Missouri  side.  It  has  a  very  French  look, 
and  is  pleasantly  situated  on  a  limestone  hill  surrounded  by 
orchards.  On  the  Missouri  side  there  is  an  almost  uninter- 
rupted range  of  limestone  rocks,  crowned  by  cedar  trees,  al- 
most as  far  up  as  Jefferson  Barracks,  a  large  military  station. 
A  few  miles  further  on  we  saw  the  steeples  of  Carondelet,  a 
suburb  of  St.  Louis,  and  soon  landed  in  that  city  itself,  the 
long  wished-for  goal  of  our  long,  long  journey. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Early  German  Settlements  in  Illinois 

St.  Louis  at  that  time  had  about  8,000  inhabitants.  It 
was  at  the  saison  morte  (dead  season),  hi  a  double  sense.  July 
is  the  hottest  month  of  the  year  almost  everywhere,  and  it  was 
particularly  hot  this  year.  The  river  was  very  low,  few  small 
boats  were  running,  and  there  was  little  trading  going  on. 
The  year  before,  the  cholera  had  been  very  severe  almost  over 
the  whole  of  the  United  States,  and  it  was  even  still  lingering 
in  the  river  towns,  several  fatal  cases  happening  every  day. 
But  the  local  disease,  violent  bilious  fever,  was  more  fatal 
still. 

THE  OUTLOOK 

A  party  of  emigrants  that  had  left  Havre  just  ten  days 
before  we  did,  and  in  which  there  were  many  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances of  the  Engelmann  family,  had  arrived  in  St. 
Louis  by  way  of  New  Orleans  about  a  week  before.  They  had 
lost  several  of  their  party  at  New  Orleans,  and  a  greater  num- 
ber on  the  boat  coming  up.  Most  of  them  had  died  of  cholera. 
This  was  distressing  news.  Soon  our  own  circle  was  to  be 
visited. 

As  soon  as  the  boat  landed,  Mr.  Engelmann,  Mr.  Abend, 
myself  and  a  few  others  went  out  into  the  city  to  look  for  a 
place  of  temporary  residence.  Afterwards  inquiries  were  to 
be  made,  and  the  country  visited  in  search  of  a  permanent 
farm-home.  The  idea  of  purchasing  wild  government  land 
had  already  been  given  up.  Our  family  must  buy  land  at 
least  partly  improved  with  houses  on  it.  The  house  Mr.  En- 
gelmann rented  was  on  what  is  now  Third  Street,  between 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  287 

Olive  and  Pine,  on  the  west  side.  It  had  just  been  built,  was 
two  stories  high,  contained  four  large  rooms  and  one  small 
one,  a  kitchen  and  a  pantry  in  the  wing,  and  some  garret- 
rooms.  If  I  recollect  aright,  it  belonged  to  a  Dr.  Lane.  In 
the  afternoon  some  bedsteads  and  tables  and  chairs  were 
purchased.  Bedding  the  family  had  brought  along;  and  in 
the  evening  we  moved  in.  Mr.  Abend  also  moved  his  family 
into  a  house. 

We  had  notified  our  relatives  of  our  arrival.  Theodore 
Hilgard  and  Edward  Hilgard,  sons  of  Fred  Hilgard  of  Speyer, 
had  some  years  previously  concluded  to  emigrate  to  the  United 
States.  They  had  attended  the  agricultural  institute  at 
Hohenheim  in  Wuertemberg,  their  intention  being  to  carry 
on  farming.  A  nephew  of  Mr.  Hilgard  of  Speyer,  Theodore 
J.  Kraft,  who  had  been  a  friend  and  fellow-student  of  mine 
at  Heidelberg  and  a  member  of  the  Burschenschaft,  fearing 
prosecution  by  the  government,  had  also  emigrated.  Theo- 
dore Hilgard  and  Kraft  had  both  been  students  of  law.  They 
left  Germany  in  1832,  but  stayed  for  a  time  in  Pennsylvania 
with  a  wealthy  German  whom  they  had  known  at  home  and 
who  was  conducting  a  large  farm,  their  object  being  to  make 
themselves  familiar  with  the  American  mode  of  farming.  I 
believe  Mr.  Gustave  Heimberger,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  be- 
fore, accompanied  them.  In  the  spring  they  had  gone  West; 
had  looked  around  in  Missouri  and  several  counties  in  Illi- 
nois; and  after  a  thorough  examination  of  the  conditions, 
Theodore  and  Edward  had  purchased,  for  four  thousand  dol- 
lars, in  St.  Clair  County,  about  twenty  miles  east  of  St.  Louis, 
a  farm  of  some  four  hundred  acres,  of  rich  prairie  and  timber 
land.  It  was  a  most  beautiful  place,  originally  owned  by  a 
well-to-do  Virginian,  and  by  far  the  greatest  part  of  the  land 
was  under  cultivation,  and  well  fenced.  A  large  and  excellent 
orchard  was  near  the  house,  which  was  some  hundred  yards 
from  a  post-road  leading  from  St.  Louis  to  Shawneetown  on 
the  Ohio,  on  which  three  times  a  week  a  stage  ran.  The  house 
itself,  though  one  or  two  rooms  were  not  quite  finished,  was, 


288 

according  to  the  modest  requirements  of  the  time,  large  and 
commodious.  It  was  of  frame,  weather-boarded,  and  painted 
white,  with  green  window-shutters.  What  made  its  situation 
particularly  beautiful,  was  the  large  lawn  in  front  of  the 
house,  with  a  double  row  of  acacias,  and  nearby  were  some 
tall  Lombardy  poplars.  A  moderately  high  range  of  well- 
timbered  hills,  extending  from  near  Belleville  towards  Silver 
Creek,  was  in  view  on  the  south  and  not  more  than  a  mile  or 
two  off,  lending  to  the  surrounding  country,  which  was  in 
itself  attractive,  a  great  charm.  Hilgard,  Kraft  and  Heim- 
berger  lived  there,  keeping  bachelor's  hall. 

Theodore  Hilgard  was  the  first  to  visit  us  in  St.  Louis, 
and  remained  several  days.  A  day  or  two  afterwards  Dr. 
George  Engelmann,  who  had  left  Germany  a  year  before,  but 
had  gone  West  at  once,  and  who  had  been  living  at  various 
places  in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis,  exploring  the  country, 
geologizing  and  botanizing,  also  came  to  St.  Louis  to  see  his 
uncle's  family.  Edward  Hilgard  and  Theodore  Kraft  like- 
wise called ;  and  so  we  found  ourselves  at  once  surrounded  by 
relatives,  Theodore,  Edward  and  Kraft  being  the  grand- 
nephews  of  Mr.  Engelmann.  For  new-comers  in  a  strange 
land  it  was  of  course  quite  a  relief  to  find  ourselves  made  wel- 
come by  dear  friends,  who  had  already  some  knowledge  of  the 
country,  and  who  could  give  valuable  information  and  advice. 

Mr.  Henry  Abend  had  been  somewhat  unwell  while  we 
were  on  the  river.  His  illness  was  ascribed  to  the  excessive 
heat  and  the  drinking  of  the  river  water.  But  it  took  a  ser- 
ious turn  shortly  after  our  landing  in  St.  Louis,  and  within 
a  week  or  so  he  died  of  bilious  fever.  Mr.  Henry  Abend  was 
a  somewhat  tall  and  spare  man,  but  muscular  and  wiry.  His 
features  showed  vivacity  and  kindness.  He  was  an  active, 
energetic  business  man,  and  having  brought  with  him  con- 
siderable means,  he  would  certainly  have  succeeded  in  any 
line  of  business  he  might  have  chosen  to  pursue.  To  add  to 
the  terrible  affliction  of  his  family,  the  oldest  son  and  the 
oldest  daughter,  aged  respectively  about  twelve  and  fourteen 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  289 

years,  also  died  within  a  week  or  two.  Mr.  Abend  left  a 
widow  and  five  young  children  to  deplore  his  loss.  Fortunately, 
Mr.  Joseph  Abend,  a  younger  brother  of  Henry,  a  quiet  and 
very  sensible  man,  had  come  along  with  the  family.  He  was 
a  saddler  and  harness-maker  by  trade,  and  had  seen  a  great 
deal  of  the  world  (he  afterwards  wrote  a  narrative  of  his 
travels)  in  the  pursuit  of  his  trade  in  Europe  and  Asia.  He 
acted  as  the  adviser  of  the  family,  which  moved  over  to  St. 
Glair  County,  where  Mrs.  Abend  bought  a  small  farm,  not  far 
from  the  Shiloh  meeting-house.  Widow  Abend  was  still  young 
and  handsome,  showing  that  she  must  have  been  remarkably 
beautiful.  She  was  still  a  good-looking  woman,  when  she 
died  many  years  afterwards.  She  was  of  a  sweet  disposition, 
and  she  and  her  children,  who,  from  the  beginning,  lived  near 
the  Engelmann  family,  retained  the  most  friendly  relations 
with  us,  which  became  closer  still  when  the  eldest  son,  Ed- 
ward, married  the  fair  Anna,  the  daughter  of  Theodore  Hil- 
gard,  Jr. 

Our  own  circle  did  not  escape  the  terrible  angel  of  death. 
The  beautiful  and  lovely  Friedericka,  the  adopted  daughter 
of  the  family,  was  taken  down  with  bilious  fever.  She  was  at 
once  attended  by  Dr.  Geiger,  who  had  come  via  New  Orleans, 
a  physician  of  considerable  note  in  the  old  country  and  a 
friend  of  the  family.  Dr.  Engelmann,  though  a  young  phy- 
sician, was  considered  very  learned  in  his  profession,  and  as- 
sisted Dr.  Geiger.  But  as  the  disease  had  in  the  other  cases 
turned  out  so  fatal  and  showed  different  symptoms  from  sim- 
ilar diseases  in  Germany,  both  at  once  advised  calling  in  an 
American  doctor.  So  a  physician  of  the  highest  repute  in  the 
city  was  sent  for.  But  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  doc- 
tors and  the  most  careful  nursing  by  the  girls,  lovely  Fried- 
ericka died  within  ten  days.  Mr.  Ruppelius,  who  was  en- 
gaged to  be  married  to  her,  was,  of  course,  deeply  affected,  but 
not  more  so  than  the  rest  of  us.  Hardly  had  we  consigned 
Friedericka  to  the  grave  when  Betty,  the  youngest  daughter, 
was  taken  down  with  a  sort  of  a  typhoid  fever,  giving  rise  to 


290  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  greatest  anxiety.  In  fact,  she  did  not  fully  recover  for 
a  month  or  so,  and  her  mother  and  some  of  her  sisters  did  not 
leave  St.  Louis  until  some  weeks  after  Mr.  Engelmann  and 
the  rest  of  the  family  had  settled  in  Illinois. 

It  required  some  fortitude  to  go  through  these  trials. 
The  funeral  bells  were  ringing  nearly  all  the  time  in  St.  Louis. 
Death  and  severe  sickness  had  visited  us.  Everybody  expected 
to  be  taken  down  any  day ;  we  were  uncertain  where  we  were 
to  settle,  and  the  future,  in  general,  looked  dark.  But  I  must 
say  that  the  fortitude  of  Mr.  Engelmann  and  most  of  the 
family  was  equal  to  the  occasion. 

SEEKING   A    HOME    IN    ILLINOIS 

I  had  gone  over  with  Theodore  Hilgard  to  Illinois,  and 
had  stayed  a  day  or  two  on  his  farm.  I  liked  the  country 
much.  To  be  sure,  there  was,  right  opposite  St.  Louis,  a  wide 
plain,  heavily  timbered  in  part  and  partly  covered  with  lakes. 
This  was  a  portion  of  what  was  called  the  American  bottom- 
land, extending  from  Alton,  above  St.  Louis  on  the  Mississippi, 
where  the  hills  come  close  to  the  river,  to  Chester  where  the 
river  is  once  more  bounded  by  steep  hills.  This  bottom  is 
nearly  one  hundred  miles  long  and  from  four  to  six  miles  wide, 
of  immense  fertility,  and  had  been  a  favorite  place  with  the 
Indians.  Very  few  Americans  at  the  time  I  speak  of  had 
settled  in  this  valley,  but  it  had  been  for  more  than  a  century 
and  a  half  a  point  of  attraction  for  the  French  and  Canadian 
French,  who  found  no  difficulty  in  living  among  the  Indians,  a 
thing  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  never  was  able  to  do.  These 
French  lived  in  villages.  Being  a  sociable  people,  they  had 
their  arable  lands,  though  owned  in  severalty,  all  inclosed  by 
one  fence,  and  they  had,  besides,  large  tracts  of  unenclosed 
land,  belonging  to  them  in  common,  for  pasture  and  for  tim- 
ber and  fire-wood.  Their  fields  were  called  common  fields, 
their  pastures  and  woodlands  ''commons/'  Their  titles  they 
derived  from  French  grants.  Their  principal  villages  in  these 
bottoms  were  Cantine,  French  Village,  Prairie  du  Pont, 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  291 

Cahokia  (founded  in  1682),  Fort  Chartres,  Prairie  du  Rocher 
and  Kaskaskia. 

Beyond  this  bottom,  which  in  winter  and  the  rainy  season 
was  a  terrible  place  to  get  through,  (the  soil  being  altogether 
alluvial,  having  at  one  time  undoubtedly  been  a  part  of  the 
bed  of  the  Mississippi  River,)  the  hills  rose  from  300  to  500 
feet  in  height,  and  the  country  became  rolling,  partly  prairie, 
partly  beautiful  timberland.  Reaching  the  hills,  we  found 
many  well-kept  farms  along  the  road ;  afterwards  we  passed  on 
to  Belleville,  which,  lying  partly  in  the  valley  of  Richland 
Creek,  partly  on  the  hills  bordering  the  creek,  made  a  pleas- 
ant impression,  though  it  was  then  a  small  place,  containing 
not  more  than  seven  or  eight  hundred  people.  But  it  was 
the  county-seat,  had  a  court-house  and  a  jail,  a  post-office, 
four  or  five  stores,  two  inns  and  a  flour  mill  (ox-mill),  saw- 
mill, four  lawyers,  as  many  doctors,  and,  of  course,  a  news- 
paper. The  Governor  (Edwards)  had  resided  there,  but  had 
died  shortly  before.  It  appeared  to  be  a  lively  place  and 
on  the  rise. 

I  visited  some  of  the  neighboring  farms  and  was  very 
well  satisfied.  The  soil  was  very  rich;  there  were  fine  woods 
and  good  water.  I  made  on  my  return  a  very  favorable 
report.  Mr.  Engelmann  also  went  over  and  stayed  several 
days.  He  finally  concluded  to  buy  a  farm  some  two  miles 
north  of  the  Hilgard  place.  It  contained  about  120  acres, 
forty  of  which  were  under  cultivation.  It  was  an  old  place. 
The  owner  was  Ben  Watts,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  over 
seventy  years  of  age.  Their  children  had  all  married,  and  so 
the  old  folks  were  hardly  able  to  carry  on  the  farm.  Save 
for  a  large  and  most  excellent  orchard,  which  had  a  great  rep- 
utation in  the  neighborhood  for  its  delicious  peaches,  the  rest 
of  the  farm  showed  neglectful  tilling.  The  fences  were  not 
in  the  best  condition;  wells  had  been  attempted  but  had 
failed,  having  been  dug  either  not  deep  enough  or  not  at  the 
right  place.  The  stables  were  log-stables,  and  the  out-houses 
were  in  a  state  of  decay.  The  house,  however,  was  a  good 


292  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

substantial  double  log-house  of  sound  whiteoak  timber,  con- 
taining two  tolerably  large  rooms,  and  a  small  frame  one,  par- 
titioned off  from  a  little  porch  or  veranda  on  the  south  side. 
There  was  a  garret,  but  it  was  not  then  habitable,  having 
neither  ceiling  nor  a  good  floor,  and  being  covered  only  with 
flat  boards.  A  miserable  excuse  for  a  cellar  was  near  one  of 
the  large  chimneys. 

The  place  had,  however,  a  very  handsome  location.  I 
have  already  stated  that  from  Belleville,  in  a  somewhat  south- 
easterly direction,  a  range  of  hills,  called  Turkey  Hill, 
stretched  south  of  the  Hilgard  farm  to  Silver  Creek,  some  ten 
miles  distant.  Another  range  of  hills  extended  from  Belle- 
ville in  a  northeasterly  direction  towards  the  town  of  Lebanon, 
twelve  miles  distant.  In  a  clearing  about  half  way  between 
the  latter  place  and  Belleville  stood  an  ancient  Methodist 
meeting-house  in  which  camp-meetings  were  held,  the  name 
of  it  being  Shiloh.  A  post-road  to  Vincennes,  Indiana,  passed 
by  the  meeting-house,  on  which  a  stage  ran  twice  a  week  at 
first,  and  six  times  a  week  not  long  afterwards.  The  old  Watts 
farm  stood  but  a  little  more  than  half  a  mile  south  of  Shiloh, 
from  which  the  hill  slopes  down  gently  into  a  valley,  now 
called  the  Shiloh  valley.  Shiloh  being  the  highest  point,  the 
situation  of  the  Watts  farm  was  also  high,  commanding  to  the 
south  a  view  of  Turkey  Hill.  The  house,  garden  and  orchard 
stood  near  the  northern  line  and  was  protected  by  fine  timber. 
Immediately  west  of  the  house,  inside  of  the  fence,  was  a  row 
of  fine  catalpas;  the  tillable  land  lying  south  on  the  down 
slope.  About  a  hundred  yards  to  the  west  ran  a  brook  of 
pretty  clear  water,  with  rather  steep  banks.  Near  this  brook 
was  an  excellent  spring,  which  gave  us  plenty  of  good  cold 
drinking  water,  so  that  a  well  was  not  a  very  pressing  need. 
The  cattle  could  find  water  at  almost  any  place  on  the  stream. 
Old  Mr.  Watts  was  anxious  to  sell.  The  land  was  poorer  than 
prairie  land,  and  he  offered  to  sell  it,  together  with  some  per- 
sonal property,  at  five  dollars  per  acre. 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  293 

The  only  trouble  was  this.  How  was  our  party,  consist- 
ing at  that  time  of  about  sixteen  persons,  to  be  housed  in  two 
and  one-fourth  rooms.  This  was  to  be  considered  before  mak- 
ing a  final  purchase. 

Immediately  adjoining  the  old  place  on  the  south,  a  son 
of  Mr.  Watts,  lately  married,  had  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
acres.  There  were  only  about  twenty  acres  under  cultivation, 
the  rest  being  fine  tall  timber.  Young  Watts  was  a  carpenter 
by  trade,  and  he  had  built  himself  what  was  then  considered  a 
very  good  house.  It  was  one  story  and  a  half  high,  with  two 
tolerably  large  rooms  on  each  floor  and  good  solid  chimneys. 
It  was  weather-boarded,  shingled  and  well  painted.  The  best 
room  in  the  house,  however,  was  not  finished  on  the  inside,  and 
was  not  plastered.  Near  the  house  was  a  well,  with  most 
excellent  drinking  water,  and  not  far  off  was  a  little  pond  fed 
by  springs,  which  furnished  all  the  needful  water  for  cattle 
and  washing  purposes.  Mr.  Engelmann  could  not  well  afford 
to  buy  this  place  in  addition.  It  so  happened,  however,  that 
Doctor  George  had  been  entrusted  by  his  uncle  Joseph  in 
Heidelberg  with  funds  to  invest  in  land,  and  so  he  offered  to 
buy  the  lower  farm  for  his  uncle,  to  be  occupied  and  used  at 
present  by  the  Engelmann  family,  and  to  be  purchased  by 
them  or  some  of  them  when  convenient.  This  was  a  most 
favorable  arrangement.  The  bargain  was  soon  concluded. 
The  old  Watts  folks  were  to  move  down  to  the  farm  of  their 
son,  who  would  be  ready  to  leave  it  and  surrender  it  to  the 
Engelmanns  in  about  a  month.  Owing  to  this  agreement, 
and  also  to  the  sickness  of  our  lovely  and  amiable  little  Betty, 
a  few  only  of  our  party  could  move  out  immediately  to  take 
possession  of  the  old  place.  I  was  to  be  one  of  them. 

ST.   LOUIS   IN    1833 

Perhaps  I  may  say  something  at  this  point  about  how  St. 
Louis  appeared  to  me  at  that  time.  The  hills  at  St.  Louis, 
and  in  fact  for  many  miles  above  and  below  it,  came  right 
down  to  the  river-bank.  The  city  rose  terrace-like  from  the 


294 


river  up  to  where  Third  Street  is  now.  Thence  for  a  con- 
siderable distance  there  was  quite  a  plateau.  On  the  wharf 
was  a  tier  of  stone  warehouses  and  taverns  and  grog-shops ;  on 
Main  or  Second  Street  were  retail  stores  and  many  dwelling- 
houses,  hotels,  banks,  etc.  Third  Street  was  mostly  residences. 
So  was  Fourth;  though  here  they  were  few  and  far  between. 
From  the  higher  part  of  the  city,  one  had  a  good  view  of  the 
American  Bottom  opposite  and  of  the  bluffs  in  Illinois  at  a 
distance.  On  the  Illinois  bank,  right  oposite  St.  Louis,  were 
a  few  houses  forming  the  town  of  Illinoistown,  now  the 
populous  city  of  East  St.  Louis.  One  solitary,  but  large, 
ferry-boat  made  the  connection  between  the  opposite  shores. 
St.  Louis  was  even  then  a  most  important  shipping-point.  The 
river  furnished  the  only  mode  of  transportation,  railroads  not 
coming  into  existence  until  some  twenty  years  later.  The 
tobacco,  hemp  and  corn  raised  on  and  near  the  banks  of  the 
mighty  Missouri  River,  had  to  come  to  St.  Louis  to  be  shipped 
by  the  commission-houses  down  the  Mississippi  to  Memphis, 
Vicksburg  and  finally  to  New  Orleans.  So  had  all  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  upper  Mississippi  and  the  Illinois  River,  particu- 
larly the  lead  from  the  rich  mines  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin ; 
while  the  towns  and  cities  on  those  rivers  were  supplied  in  turn 
by  St.  Louis  with  the  dry-goods  and  groceries  they  wanted. 
From  St.  Louis  started  the  expeditions  of  hunters  and  trap- 
pers sent  off  every  spring  into  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  the 
American  Fur  Company  (John  Jacob  Astor),  as  did  also  the 
caravans  destined  by  St.  Louis  merchants  for  the  town  of  Inde- 
pendence on  the  Missouri  and  thence  to  Santa  Fe,  New  Mex- 
ico, —  a  most  profitable  trade,  New  Mexico  paying  for  the 
groceries,  calico,  tinware  and  green  cheese  thus  sent  in  hard 
Mexican  silver  dollars.  One  of  the  principal  commission- 
houses  was  that  of  Edward  Tracy  &  Co.,  to  whom  I  had  letters 
of  recommendation  from  New  York,  and  through  whom  I 
afterwards  received  and  sent  my  European  packages. 

In  spite  of  the  uneasiness  and  anxiety  under  which  we 
all  labored  during  the  first  weeks  in  St.  Louis,  some  of  us 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  295 

young  men,  Theodore  Hilgard,  Gustave  Heimberger,  Schrei- 
ber  and  myself,  explored  the  city  pretty  well.  We  went  bath- 
ing in  what  was  called  Choteau's  Pond,  a  lake,  a  mile  or  more 
distant  from  the  city  limits  and  surrounded  by  trees  and 
bushes.  We  discovered  far  to  the  south  in  the  city  a  brewery, 
conducted  by  an  Englishman  or  a  Scotchman,  with  rather 
indifferent  beer.  We  found  a  better  place  in  Main  Street. 
It  was  a  kind  of  confectionery  and  restaurant,  kept  by  a 
Frenchman  by  the  name  of  Papin,  a  very  fine  and  respectable 
old  person.  He  also  kept  light  wines  and  soda  water.  The 
claret,  (there  being  no  duty  on  wines,)  was  excellent  and 
cheap.  We  patronized  this  place,  and  I  may  here  mention 
an  incident,  which  in  many  respects  is  not  uninteresting,  as  it 
shows  how  easy  it  was  at  that  time  to  make  a  living,  even  for 
a  green  immigrant.  Amongst  ourselves  we  talked  German, 
with  the  old  gentleman  French,  and  with  his  clerk  or  bar- 
keeper, English.  Not  long  before  I  left  St.  Louis  for  Illinois, 
I  had  been  there  with  some  friends,  and  in  going  out  Mr. 
Papin  very  politely  begged  me  to  stay  a  few  moments.  ' '  Mon- 
sieur," said  he,  ''my  barkeeper  is  going  to  leave  me.  He 
cannot  talk  anything  but  Yankee.  Now,  Monsieur,  you  speak 
the  French  very  well,  so  you  do  the  German,  and  you  under- 
stand English,  and  speak  it  also  tolerably  well.  Will  you 
not  stay  with  me?  You  will  have  a  nice  room  to  yourself, 
good  board  and  twenty  dollars  a  month."  At  first  I  felt 
offended,  but  on  a  moment's  reflection  I  appreciated  the  good 
old  man 's  offer,  thanked  him  very  cordially  and  pleaded  prior 
engagements.  It  must  be  remembered  that  twenty  dollars  at 
that  time  was  as  much  as  fifty  dollars  now.  Upon  the  whole, 
this  was  encouraging.  If  everything  should  fail,  I  could  at 
least  fall  back  on  Mr.  Papin,  who,  by  the  way,  belonged  to 
a  very  respectable  French  family,  some  of  whom  still  live  in 
St.  Louis  and  move  in  the  very  best  circles.  The  Creole 
French  element  was  then,  if  not  preponderating,  at  least  as  far 
as  numbers  and  particularly  wealth  were  concerned,  equal  to 
the  American.  The  large  family  of  the  Choteaus,  the  Sar- 


296  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

pies,  the  Benoists,  the  Longueniarres,  the  Bogys,  the  Beauvais 
and  many  others  were  then  living  there,  as  many  of  their 
descendants  do  yet.  They  had  become  wealthy,  partly  through 
the  fur  and  Indian  trade,  and  partly  through  the  rise  of  real 
estate.  Nearly  one-half  of  the  people  we  met  on  the  streets 
were  black  or  mulattoes.  The  balance  of  the  population  were 
Americans,  mixed  with  a  good  many  Irish  and  Germans. 
The  Americans  were  almost  to  a  man  from  the  Southern 
States.  Passing  the  court-house,  we  saw  colored  men,  women 
and  children  sold  at  auction.  We  were  also  shown  a  sort  of 
prison,  where  refractory  slaves  were  confined  at  the  request 
of  their  masters  or  were  whipped  at  their  masters'  cost,  by 
men  regularly  appointed  for  that  purpose.  This  was,  as  we 
were  told,  a  purely  private  institution.  From  the  second 
story  of  our  residence  we  could  see  into  the  yard  of  a  neigh- 
boring house,  where  we  once  saw  what  appeared  to  be  an 
American  lady,  lashing  a  young  slave  girl  with  a  cow  hide. 
Had  there  still  been  a  lingering  disposition  in  the  Engelmann 
or  Abend  family  to  settle  in  Missouri,  these  scenes  would  have 
quenched  it  forever. 

ON  A  FARM  IN  ILLINOIS 

On  the  third  of  August,  (John  Scheel,  his  sister  Mari- 
anna,  and  Theodore  Engelmann,  I  believe,  having  preceded 
us,)  Mr.  Engelmann,  Sophie,  Ruppelius,  myself,  and  Doctor 
Engelmann,  started  for  the  upper  farm.  A  farm-wagon 
drawn  by  two  yoke  of  oxen  had  been  hired  to  move  our  goods 
from  St.  Louis.  Early  in  the  morning  it  came  to  our  door. 
It  was  a  large  wagon,  with  a  long  and  high  box,  and  held 
nearly  all  our  things.  Doctor  Engelmann  was  on  horseback. 
We  others  walked  to  the  ferry-boat,  but  once  over  the  river, 
we  seated  ourselves  comfortably  on  some  of  the  mattresses. 
It  was  terribly  hot  and  the  dust  at  many  places  was  six  inches 
deep.  Shortly  after  we  reached  the  bluffs,  we  stopped  at  a 
farm-house.  The  air  on  the  hills  was  much  better.  On  the 
side  of  the  house  was  a  large  trellis  on  which  hung  large  and 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  297 

beautiful  grapes.  They  were  not  yet  ripe,  and  were  of  a  kind 
called  Isabella,  which  makes  a  good  eating  grape  but  a  very 
indifferent  wine.  Mr.  Engelmann  was  delighted  to  see  such 
fine  grapes,  and  still  more  so  when  the  owner  of  the  farm 
asked  us  whether  we  would  not  like  to  drink  some  of  his  wild 
grape  wine.  Of  course  we  were  all  curious  to  taste  it.  It 
was  really  very  good,  though  it  had  been  doctored  a  little  by 
an  addition  of  sugar,  the  American  having  no  liking  for  wine 
unless  it  is  sweet.  Indeed,  I  have  heard  Americans  who  were 
excellent  judges  of  brandy,  Madeira  or  sherry,  pronounce  the 
finest  and  most  aromatic  Rhine  wines  as  unfit  to  drink,  and  as 
sour  as  vinegar.  Of  course,  the  taste  has  now  been  much 
trained  in  this  respect  in  this  country,  and  good  Rhine  wine  is 
appreciated  very  generally. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  reached  Belleville. 
On  Main  Street,  our  caravan,  which  had  excited  the  curiosity 
of  the  few  people  there,  halted  at  a  tavern,  the  Virginia 
House.  No  wonder  that  we  excited  astonishment.  The  doctor 
was  on  a  very  fine  horse.  Mr.  Engelmann,  of  imposing  stature 
and  wearing  a  mustache  and  chin  beard  a  la  Henri  Quatre, 
looked  like  a  military  officer  of  high  rank;  Sophie  appeared 
as  a  young  lady,  while  Ruppelius  and  I  carried  double-bar- 
relled shot-guns.  Beards  at  that  time  were  not  worn  by 
Americans,  —  save  English  side-whiskers,  by  the  select  few. 
The  fashion  of  wearing  beards  did  not  arise  till  after  the  Mex- 
ican War  in  1848,  when  our  citizen  soldiers  mostly  returned 
bearded.  And  this  decidedly  reputable,  but  very  foreign- 
looking  party,  came  in  an  ox  wagon!  A  year  or  two  after- 
wards, when  emigration  was  pouring  into  this  region  of  the 
country,  our  appearance  would  not  have  been  particularly 
noticed. 

"When  we  alighted,  a  tall,  lean,  white-haired  man,  as 
straight  as  a  pole,  in  a  shabby  blue  swallow-tailed  dress-coat 
with  brass  buttons  and  a  nankeen,  rather  shortlegged  trousers, 
a  brownish,  worn-out  high  hat  on  his  head,  very  self-possessed, 
and  with  a  very  red  nose  and  closed  lips,  showed  us  into  a 


298  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

small  room,  serving  as  a  general  hall  and  parlor  at  the  same 
time.  It  was  Major  Doyle,  a  Virginian,  who  had  evidently 
seen  better  days,  but  who  had  now  condescended  to  keep  an 
inn  at  Belleville.  We  went  in,  and  as  I  expressed  a  desire 
to  wash,  we  were  shown  through  the  kitchen  into  a  small 
yard,  where  there  was  a  shaky  sort  of  a  long  pine  bench,  on 
which  stood  two  tin  wash  pans.  A  little  black  boy  drew  a 
bucket  of  water  from  the  well,  and  with  the  help  of  a  pint 
tin  cup  poured  the  water  into  the  wash  pans,  one  of  which 
had  several  holes  in  it  stopped  up  with  strings  of  tow. 

After  we  had  washed,  we  bethought  ourselves  of  having 
something  to  eat.  I  asked  the  Major  very  innocently  for 
some  lunch.  He  seemed  very  much  surprised.  "Sir,"  said 
he  to  me,  "supper  will  be  ready  at  six  o'clock.  We  have 
nothing  in  the  house  to  eat  between  meals. ' '  Mr.  Engelmann 
grew  somewhat  angry.  ' '  What  —  is  this  a  tavern  and  we  can 
get  no  kind  of  refreshment?  You  ought  to  take  down  the 
sign  from  your  house."  While  we  were  discussing  the  mat- 
ter, Mrs.  Doyle,  a  small,  round,  but  very  kindly  looking  lady, 
entered  the  room.  Finding  out  what  was  going  on,  she 
remarked,  looking  up  at  the  Major  in  a  sort  of  beseeching  way, 
that  she  could  make  us  a  cup  of  coffee.  She  had  no  bread: 
they  made  their  bread  for  each  meal ;  but  she  would  send  down 
to  the  baker's  shop  and  get  us  some.  Butter  she  had. 

Of  course,  we  accepted  her  offer.  In  the  meantime,  how- 
ever, Mr.  Engelmann  thought  it  right  to  order  a  bottle  of  wine. 
The  Major  looked  still  more  astonished.  "We  keep  no  liq- 
uors in  this  house. ' '  Mr.  Engelmann  now  grew  quite  excited ; 
for  that  in  a  tavern  a  man  could  get  nothing  to  drink  appeared 
to  him  the  height  of  absurdity,  the  more  so  as  the  landlord 
bore  the  evident  marks  of  being  a  hard  drinker.  However, 
things  were  arranged.  There  was,  right  across  the  way,  the 
Major  said,  a  liquor  store  kept  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  Carr, 
nicknamed  Brandy  Carr,  where  we  could  get  wine ;  so  I  went 
over  and  for  seventy-five  cents  I  bought  a  bottle  of  very  good 
St.  Julien.  We  refreshed  ourselves,  and  after  awhile  the 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  299 

coffee  came  in,  which  was,  as  Southern  people  know  how  to 
make  it,  pretty  good. 

About  four  o'clock  we  resumed  our  journey.  It  was  a 
beautiful  road ;  nearly  all  the  way  fine,  tall,  beautiful  timber, 
whiteoak,  walnut,  hickory,  wild  cherry,  maple  and  sycamore; 
now  and  then  there  were  openings,  where  wild  roses,  black- 
berry and  hawthorne  bushes  grew.  We  passed  also  some  fine 
farms.  At  last,  about  six  miles  from  Belleville,  at  the  Shiloh 
meeting-house,  we  turned  from  the  main  road  to  the  south, 
and  through  a  fine  woodland  we  saw  before  us  the  old  farm- 
house. John,  Marianna,  Theodore  and  Schreiber  came  out 
to  greet  us. 

Our  wagon  was  unloaded.  The  bedding  was  placed  on 
the  one  plain  wooden  bedstead,  part  of  the  furniture  bought 
with  the  place.  Besides  this  old  bedstead,  there  were  included 
in  the  purchase,  half  a  dozen  old  hickory  chairs,  a  table,  a 
bench,  an  iron  kettle,  a  skillet  or  two,  a  few  buckets,  a  plough 
and  other  farming  utensils,  a  good  cow  and  calf,  some  fifteen 
or  twenty  head  of  sheep  and  many  chickens. 

When  night  came,  Mr.  Engelmann  and  one  of  his  sons 
took  the  bed.  The  girls  turned  down  the  chairs  against  the 
wall,  put  pillows  and  mattresses  on  the  floors,  and  we  young 
folks,  the  Doctor,  Theodore,  John  Scheel,  Schreiber,  Ruppelius 
and  I,  lay  down  on  them  in  a  row.  Sophie  and  Marianna 
made  their  bed  on  the  floor  in  the  veranda  room.  This 
arrangement  was  continued  until  the  rest  of  the  family 
arrived.  Then  the  young  gentlemen,  the  two  young  boys, 
and  Sophie  and  Marianna  moved  down  to  the  lower  farm 
where  the  rest  of  the  family  were,  and  we  young  men  occupied 
the  old  place. 

The  first  days  we  passed  looking  around  and  killing  some 
squirrels.  The  orchards  first  claimed  our  attendance.  The 
crop  of  apples  and  peaches  of  the  choicest  kind  was  really 
immense.  We  partly  lived  on  them.  The  apples  were  cooked 
or  roasted.  We  had  flour  for  bread,  but  no  meat  except  game. 
John  and  Schreiber  were  good  shots.  Theodore  was  also  a 


300  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

hunter.  I  was  a  tolerably  good  marksman  at  the  time,  and 
so  was  Doctor  Engelmann,  who  was  the  possessor  of  a  fine 
long  American  rifle,  shooting  very  small  balls.  We  often 
amused  ourselves  in  this  way,  and  with  pistols.  I  killed  a 
good  many  squirrels,  but  Schreiber,  who  had  more  patience 
than  I,  always  carried  home  twice  as  many  as  I  did.  But  I 
will  not  anticipate.  A  good  yoke  of  oxen  was  purchased,  and 
a  very  valuable  mare,  well  broken  to  harness  and  a  good 
trotter.  There  was  no  wagon,  but  Watts  had  left  an  old  heavy 
sledge.  The  wheat  had  all  been  reaped  and  sold  before  we 
came.  The  corn  was  about  ripe.  There  were  a  few  vegetables 
in  the  garden;  a  potato  patch;  and  a  large  crop  of  tomatoes, 
—  though  the  value  of  this  delicious  fruit  was  then  unknown 
to  us  and  therefore  not  appreciated;  in  fact,  tomatoes  were 
considered  by  the  new-comers  as  unwholesome  and  even  pois- 
onous ;  while  now  we  should  not  like  to  live  in  a  country  where 
we  could  not  get  this  glorious  fruit  in  all  its  forms.  The 
wheat  stubble  field  had  to  be  plowed,  the  corn  had  soon  to  be 
gathered,  and  the  fences  repaired. 

Mr.  Engelmann  was  really  the  only  practical  farmer. 
Raised  at  Bacharach,  where  his  father  was  pastor  and  super- 
intendent, and  had  in  his  parsonage  some  land  and  a  very 
large  garden,  he  had  occasion  to  learn  something  of  farming. 
Having  been  appointed  district-surveyor  under  the  Napoleonic 
government,  he  had  an  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  soils  and  the  crops,  and  had  lived  a  great  deal  with 
the  farmers  and  peasants.  After  his  appointment  as  district- 
forester,  and  later  as  master  of  forests,  as  already  stated,  he 
had  bought  a  small  farm  at  Imsbach  with  a  large  well-built 
house  upon  it.  Though  he  had  not  himself  done  the  digging 
and  plowing,  he  had  had  to  oversee  the  farm-hands  and  had 
thus  become  familiar  with  the  cultivation  of  all  the  ordinary 
farm-products,  as  grains,  grasses,  potatoes,  etc.  Theodore 
showed  no  liking  for  farming,  nor  did  Louis  much,  he  having 
been  educated  as  an  apothecary.  Though  I  must  say  that  I 
could  at  least  tell  wheat  from  rye  and  oats,  owing  to  my  wide 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  301 

youthful  travels,  —  a  thing  that  many  people  from  the  old 
country  did  not  know  when  they  first  tried  their  hands  at 
farming,  —  I  was  utterly  averse  to  farm-work. 

Our  life  on  the  upper  farm  was  really  a  romantic  one. 
American  and  German  neighbors  called  frequently.  As  Doc- 
tor George  and  I  spoke  English  "pretty  plain,"  as  the  Amer- 
icans said,  we  soon  got  well  acquainted  with  our  American 
neighbors.  They  were  all  very  kind  and  accommodating. 
Some  were  great  hunters  and  good  for  nothing  else,  but  clever 
fellows  after  all.  For  our  meals  we  had  to  go  down  to  the 
lower  farm  three  times  a  day.  That  I  spent  much  time  where 
Sophie  was  may  be  imagined.  We  hardly  ever  went  back  at 
night  before  ten  o'clock. 

LOOKING    FORWAED 

What,  now,  was  I  to  do?  My  first  idea  was  to  turn  to 
journalism.  The  last  year  I  was  at  Frankfort  I  had  written 
many  articles  for  the  Liberal  papers,  had  corresponded  occa- 
sionally for  the  "Mannheimer  Zeitung"  and  Wirth's  "Trib- 
une." When  in  Paris,  Mr.  Savoye,  who  was  supporting 
himself  by  writing  for  German  and  French  papers  and  was 
about  to  publish  a  monthly  review  devoted  to  familiarizing 
the  French  with  the  latest  German  literature,  had  asked  me 
to  become  a  correspondent,  saying  that  sketches  from  the 
United  States  would  be  quite  interesting.  There  was  already 
a  German  newspaper  published  in  New  York,  and  Mr.  Wessel- 
hoeft  had  just  issued  a  prospectus  for  publishing  "Die  Alte 
und  Neue  Welt"  at  Philadelphia.  I  expected  that  correspon- 
dence from  the  then  "Far  West"  would  be  quite  readily 
received  by  this  paper.  Besides,  through  brother  Charles,  I 
might  get  into  relations  with  German  journals  and  reviews. 
Living  as  a  member  of  the  Engelmann  family,  my  needs  were 
few,  and  I  was  determined  to  make  myself  self-supporting 
and  independent.  To  pursue  the  legal  profession  was  only  a 
faint  wish.  I  thought  it  too  difficult,  on  account  of  my  speak- 
ing but  imperfectly  the  language  of  the  country,  where  all  the 


302  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

pleadings  in  court  were  oral.  But  whether  I  chose  the  one 
career  or  the  other,  the  first  thing  to  do  was  to  make  myself 
acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  country,  its  geography,  its 
institutions  and  laws. 

I  went  to  work  resolutely.  A  brief  but  good  history  of 
Illinois  and  Missouri  by  Peck,  a  Baptist  minister,  who  kept 
a  boys'  academy  at  Rock  Spring,  only  a  few  miles  from  our 
farm,  was  first  read.  A  very  brief  and  bad  history  of  the 
United  States,  and  a  life  of  Washington  also  came  into  my 
hands.  Through  Doctor  George  I  had  the  use  of  that  excel- 
lent work  of  T.  Flint,  "History  and  Geography  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley"  (1832).  For  the  sake  of  information  and 
also  of  exercising  my  English,  I  translated  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  Constitution  of  Illinois.  One 
American  neighbor  kept  the  ' '  Missouri  Republican, ' '  the  larg- 
est and  best  paper  published  in  St.  Louis  (tri-weekly  at  the 
time),  which  I  read  attentively  so  as  to  get  acquainted  at 
once  with  the  prevailing  politics  of  the  country.  Besides,  I 
consider  the  reading  of  the  journals  of  a  country  by  a  for- 
eigner as  the  best  mode  of  learning  the  character  of  the  peo- 
ple. Even  if  such  a  newspaper  gave  only  advertisements,  it 
would  be  of  great  value  towards  attaining  a  good  idea  of  the 
people.  I  may  even  say,  (and  I  speak  from  experience,) 
that  advertisements  are  the  very  best  teachers  of  a  people's 
character. 

To  make  myself  not  quite  unuseful  to  my  friends,  I  pro- 
posed to  give  the  boys,  Jacob  and  Adolph,  regular  lessons  in 
German  and  English,  writing  and  ciphering.  This  was  cheer- 
fully accepted.  They  would  come  after  breakfast  and  stay  a 
couple  of  hours.  After  Mrs.  Abend  had  moved  on  her  farm 
near  us,  her  two  young  sons,  Edward  and  Adolph,  joined  the 
class.  Of  course  there  were  interruptions,  and,  when  winter 
set  in,  it  was  often  too  cold  for  the  boys  to  come.  According 
to  my  recollection,  Josephine  also  took  a  hand  in  the  teach- 
ing of  her  younger  brothers  and  of  Betty,  —  a  task  for  which 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  303 

she  was  well  qualified.  Upon  the  whole,  I  worked  tolerably 
hard,  yet  still  found  leisure  to  read  some  light  literature: 
Washington  Irving,  Bulwer's  novels,  and  books  on  the  United 
States  written  by  Germans,  Englishmen,  and  even  French- 
men. 

Some  time  in  September  I  was  greatly  surprised  by  the 
arrival  of  an  old  university  friend,  Charles  Friedrich.  In 
my  various  visits  to  Leipsic  I  had  become  well  acquainted 
with  him.  His  father  was  a  land-owner  of  considerable  means, 
and  he  was  to  be  his  successor  on  his  large  farm.  He  had 
attended  lectures  on  agriculture,  but  had  paid  more  attention 
to  the  club-house,  the  riding-school  and  the  fencing-hall.  Hav- 
ing been  a  member  of  the  Burschenschaft,  and  a  great  many 
of  its  members  having  been  arrested  in  Germany,  he  thought  it 
best  to  leave.  He  had  been  some  time  in  the  East,  at  Balti- 
more or  Philadelphia,  had  accidentally  learned  my  address 
and  had  at  once  made  a  bee-line  to  the  upper  farm.  He  had 
many  peculiarities.  Taciturn  and  not  disposed  to  make 
acquaintances,  he  was  prone  to  suspect  people,  and  was  very 
sensitive ;  but  when  once  a  friend,  he  was  a  reliable  one,  and 
ready  to  make  any  sacrifices.  Of  medium  size,  he  was  broad- 
shouldered,  long-armed  and  of  great  muscular  strength.  He 
was  hard-featured,  and  several  deep  scars  across  the  face 
showed  that  he  had  not  avoided  quarrels.  We  got  him  board 
at  a  neighbor's,  Robert  Hughes,  who  had  a  fine  farm  and  a 
good  house,  but  Friedrich  spent  most  of  his  time  in  our  quar- 
ters. He  knew  something  of  theoretical  farming,  but  did  not 
like  its  hard  labor.  He  bought  himself  at  once  a  splendid 
saddle-horse,  Lizzie,  of  which  we  made  frequent  use.  Ruppe- 
lius  also  purchased  a  horse ;  so  that  with  Doctor  George 's  and 
Mr.  Engelmann's  horses  we  were  well  provided.  We  had 
much  use  for  them.  The  horse  which  Mr.  Engelmann  had 
bought,  though  very  valuable,  had  a  very  bad  fault.  She 
could  jump  most  any  kind  of  a  fence,  however  high,  and  she 
accordingly  frequently  broke  out  of  the  pasture  in  the  night 
and  ran  off  to  her  own  pasturing  grounds,  some  three  miles 


304  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

off,  on  Ridge  Prairie.  Joining  gangs  of  horses  there,  we  had 
to  hunt  her  for  miles  in  the  prairie,  jumping  ditches  to  cut 
her  off  from  her  companions  and  driving  her  into  some  corner. 
This  running  of  horses  was  our  delight,  and  it  made  us,  if  not 
very  elegant,  at  least  very  bold  riders.  I  was  a  sort  of  foreign 
minister  to  the  family.  Not  pretending  to  work  on  the  farm, 
I  was  supposed  to  be  always  at  leisure,  and  so  I  did  most  of  the 
errands,  brought  letters  to  the  post-office  at  Belleville  and 
called  for  our  letters  and  papers.  If  any  necessaries  were 
wanting,  I  was  sent  to  town  to  get  them.  Also,  oftentimes  I 
rode  down  to  Mitchell's  Mill,  about  three  miles  south,  to  buy 
flour,  which  was  bagged  and  thrown  across  the  horse 's  crupper. 

DEER-HUNTING 

In  September,  Theodore  killed  the  first  deer,  a  young  one. 
It  was  quite  an  event.  The  proper  season  for  hunting  deer 
had  now  opened.  The  Americans  shot  them  by  stealth.  It 
was  called  still-hunting.  Early  in  the  morning  they  went  out 
for  them,  seeking  them  in  their  lairs,  or  as  they  stood  still  or 
drank  at  a  branch  or  pond.  Indeed,  they  could  not  hunt 
otherwise.  They  had  no  shot-guns,  but  only  long,  heavy 
rifles  of  very  small  calibre,  which  could  hardly  be  used  with- 
out a  rest.  The  rifle  was  a  very  heavy  weapon,  and  the  Amer- 
icans at  that  time  were  very  excellent  shots.  At  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  they  seldom  missed.  Wild  turkeys  they  could 
kill  only  while  roosting,  and  squirrels  and  coons  while  they 
were  sitting  in  the  branches  of  the  trees.  Prairie  chickens 
and  quail  and  wild  geese  and  ducks  they  could  not  bring  down. 

Our  foresters  taught  them  a  new  mode,  —  driving.  When 
we  saw  traces  of  deer  in  certain  quarters  of  the  woods,  one  of 
us,  —  usually  John  Scheel,  who  was  the  best  hunter  amongst 
us,  and  was  particularly  skilful  in  shooting  birds  on  the  wing, 
whether  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  —  accompanied  by  an  old 
Scotch  shepherd  dog,  Collie,  would  start  from  a  certain  point 
in  the  timber  and  walk  quietly  and  leisurely  forward.  The 
dog,  the  moment  he  scented  deer,  would  give  a  deep  plaintive 


EAELY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  305 

bark  and  would  very  slowly  pursue  the  scent.  A  half  a  mile 
off  in  the  opposite  directions  from  where  the  drivers  started, 
a  chain  of  hunters  would  be  formed,  distant  from  one  another 
about  100  yards.  The  deer  would  run  away  from  the  barking, 
usually  in  a  straight  line,  and  would  pass  through  the  chain. 
We  all  had  good  double-barrelled  shot-guns,  one  barrel  rifled, 
with  a  bullet  in  it,  the  other  a  smooth-bore,  loaded  with  buck- 
shot. It  was  very  seldom  that  in  such  a  drive  one  or  more 
deer  were  not  shot.  The  first  winter,  1833-34,  there  were 
thirty-four  deer  killed  around  our  farm  by  our  party,  which 
gave  us  excellent  meat;  and  Theodore  tanned  the  hides  very 
well  for  an  amateur  tanner.  The  flesh  is  far  better  than  that 
of  the  German  hart,  but  perhaps  not  so  good  as  that  of  our 
roe.  I  can  claim  no  credit  in  this  slaughter.  I  went  along 
several  times  but  never  had  a  chance  to  shoot,  and  if  I  had  I 
should  very  probably  have  missed. 

I  noted  in  a  diary,  which  I  kept  for  some  time,  that  in 
September  we  had  for  three  days  in  succession  violent  thunder- 
storms. During  the  nights  there  was  constant  sheet-lightning, 
a  thing  very  unusual  to  us.  On  the  first  of  October,  after 
some  very  hot  days,  we  had  a  regular  cyclone,  which  threat- 
ened to  take  off  the  roof  of  our  log-house.  A  large  oak  tree 
between  the  two  farms  had  been  wrenched  in  two  by  lightning 
a  few  days  before. 

Most  of  our  American  neighbors  belonged  to  the  Meth- 
odist Church.  They  were  a  very  dry  set  of  people,  ortho- 
dox in  a  measure,  and  great  church-goers,  but  still  not  of  that 
sentimental  mystical  piety  which  we  find  in  Germany  in  some 
sects.  Of  course,  there  was  no  intolerance,  and  it  happened 
frequently  that  the  husband  belonged  to  no  church,  or,  as 
it  was  called,  to  the  "big  church,"  while  the  mother  was  a 
Methodist  and  some  of  the  children  Baptists.  The  tracts 
which  these  different  sects  distributed  were  horrible,  tedious 
and  sour  as  vinegar,  but  not  near  so  childish  and  tasteless  as 
those  of  the  Pietists  in  Germany  and  Switzerland. 


306  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNEE 

GERMAN   EMIGRATION   SOCIETIES 

During  the  fall  I  received  a  good  many  letters  from  home 
and  from  my  friends.  Those  from  my  family  were  full  of 
love  and  tenderness.  All  of  them  more  or  less  expressed  a 
hope  of  reunion  in  America.  Charles  had  serious  thoughts  of 
coming  over,  if  he  could  dispose  of  his  business,  and  of  bring- 
ing our  mother  and  sisters.  They  were  all  much  distressed  by 
the  political  reaction  which  had  set  in,  and  were  not  without 
fears  for  Charles,  whose  Liberal  views  were  well  known,  and 
who  certainly  was  suspected  of  having  had  more  or  less  knowl- 
edge of  our  rising  at  Frankfort.  I  did  not  encourage  their 
ideas  of  emigration.  For  Charles  there  was  no  chance  of 
setting  up  in  the  bookseller's  business,  either  in  the  East  or 
in  the  "West.  I  had  carefully  informed  myself  on  this  sub- 
ject, having  corresponded  with  friends  in  Philadelphia.  Many 
years  ago  attempts  were  made  in  St.  Louis  by  Germans  to 
open  book-stores,  but  they  all  failed.  There  was  not  even  an 
English  book-store  in  St.  Louis  at  this  time,  and  it  was  not 
until  twenty  years  after  our  arrival  that  there  was  one  that 
could  be  called  respectable.  Mother's  health  was  good  for 
her  age,  but  Augusta,  who  had  been  sickly  from  youth,  had 
in  late  years  become  very  susceptible  to  bilious  cholic,  and 
was  afflicted  with  a  general  weakness  of  the  stomach,  so  that 
the  climate  might  have  been  very  pernicious  to  her.  Pauline, 
who  had  been  in  perfect  health  and  beauty  since  she  was  about 
eighteen  years  old,  had,  by  imprudent  exposure  in  returning 
from  a  heated  ball-room,  been  taken  down  with  pleurisy  and 
her  lungs  had  been  weak  ever  since.  Indeed,  for  years  she 
had  to  go  either  to  Kreuznach  for  the  grape-cure,  or  to  Ems 
to  restore  her  health. 

There  was  a  perfect  furor  in  Germany  at  that  time  for 
emigration.  So  many  families  in  Frankfort  and  its  neigh- 
borhood and  in  Rhenish  Bavaria,  whom  my  family  knew,  were 
preparing  to  leave  for  America,  or  speaking  seriously  about 
it,  that  it  was  no  wonder  my  family  formed  a  plan  of  emigra- 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  307 

tion,  apart  from  their  very  natural  desire  to  be  with  me.  Not 
only  individuals  and  families  resolved  to  come  over,  but  large 
emigration-societies  were  formed  with  a  view  of  making  large 
German  settlements  in  some  Western  State  or  Territory.  The 
prospect  was  held  out  that  it  might  even  be  possible  to  form 
a  German  State. 

One  of  these  societies  was  destined  to  become  rather  cele- 
brated. It  was  the  Giessen  Society,  at  the  head  of  which  were 
some  very  prominent  men,  amongst  them  Frederick  Muench,  a 
Protestant  minister,  known  in  later  times  as ' '  Far  West. ' '  He 
was  a  man  of  sterling  character,  very  well  informed,  of  an  iron 
will  and  an  iron  constitution.  A  warm  German  patriot,  he 
had  despaired  of  his  country  and  had  longed  to  become  a  citi- 
zen of  the  great  Transatlantic  Republic.  Raised  in  the  coun- 
try, he  had  a  fair  knowledge  of  farming  and  became  a  fine 
farmer,  publishing  many  articles  on  agriculture,  particularly 
on  vine-culture.  He  was  also  a  very  able  writer  on  educa- 
tion, on  ethics,  and  on  politics,  and  even  his  poetical  efforts 
were  not  without  merit.  Though  violently  opposed  to  slavery, 
yet,  misguided  by  Duden's  book,  he,  with  others,  made  the 
great  mistake  of  settling  in  Missouri,  and  had,  when  the 
slavery  question  became  a  burning  one,  a  most  trying  time 
amidst  the  secessionists.  The  German  Union  men  were  in 
constant  danger  of  their  lives.  "Far  West"  acted  most  ably 
and  stood  his  ground  manfully.  A  very  promising  young  son 
of  his  died  on  the  battlefield  for  the  Union.  Until  an  hour 
before  his  sudden  death  he  was  in  full  possession  of  his  mental 
and  physical  forces.  He  died  in  the  harness,  working  in  his 
vineyard,  at  a  very  advanced  age.  In  my  book  entitled  ' '  The 
German  Element  in  the  United  States, ' '  I  believe  I  have  done 
full  justice  to  ' '  Far  West, ' '  though  not  more  than  he  deserved. 

Paul  Follenius,  brother  of  Charles  Follenius,  of  Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts,  was  another  promoter  of  this  society. 
He,  also,  was  a  very  noble  character.  Like  Muench,  he  had 
given  up  all  hopes  of  a  political  regeneration  of  Germany.  He 
was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  in  coming  to  this  country  aban- 


308 

doned  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  The  idea  of  forming 
a  new  State  towards  which  German  immigation  should  be 
directed,  and  not  a  mere  colony,  had  found  in  him  a  warm 
advocate. 

George  Bunsen,  head  of  the  boys'  academy,  and  brother 
of  Dr.  Gustave  Bunsen,  also  became  a  member  of  the  Giessen 
Society.  As  he  and  his  whole  family  settled  in  St.  Clair 
County,  and  our  family  came  into  many  relations  with  his,  j. 
shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  Mr.  Bunsen  more  fully  here- 
after. Professor  Goebel  of  Coburg,  a  very  learned  and  excel- 
lent man,  Joseph  Kircher,  my  old  university  friend  from 
Munich,  and  many  other  gentlemen  of  education  and  of  means, 
with  several  families  of  my  acquaintance  from  Altenburg,  like- 
wise joined  the  ranks.  No  one  was  accepted  who  was  not  of 
good  repute,  or  who  did  not  possess  sufficient  means  to  sup- 
port himself  for  some  time  in  the  new  country.  Of  course, 
there  were  a  good  many  farmers  and  mechanics  with  the 
party. 

This  was  certainly  the  best  organized  colonization-party 
that  ever  left  Germany;  its  constitution  and  by-laws  were 
admirable;  its  leaders  men  of  eminence  and  integrity,  —  and 
yet,  like  all  similar  societies,  it  was  eventually  wrecked,  to  the 
great  pecuniary  injury  and  mortification  of  most  of  its  mem- 
bers. 

I  have  never  favored  such  schemes  for  many  reasons. 
A  bigoted  sect  may  follow  a  religious  leader  who  is  looked 
upon  as  a  sort  of  a  prophet  and  be  kept  together  by  religious 
bonds ;  but  the  more  intelligent  the  members  of  an  immigration 
society  are,  the  less  authority  can  be  exercised  even  by  the 
best;  and  without  implicit  submission  to  some  one  head,  set- 
tlements in  new  countries  or  in  countries  already  fully  organ- 
ized, cannot  be  successfully  established.  Upon  my  advice,  if 
my  family  had  come  over  at  all,  it  would  have  come  entirely 
by  itself  or  with  a  few  families  or  traveling  companions,  just 
as  the  Engelmanns,  the  Hilgards,  the  Knoebels,  and  the  Abends 
had  come. 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLEMENTS  309 

EARLY    NEIGHBORS 

Perhaps  I  should  say  something  now  of  our  neighbors. 
The  nearest  were  Americans,  who  soon  became  very  well 
acquainted  with  us,  the  Adamses,  great  hunters,  the  Kinneys, 
and  some  of  the  Scotts.  William  Kinney,  a  large  land-owner, 
was  then  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Illinois,  and  his  residence 
was  on  a  beautiful  hill,  called  Mount  Pleasant,  overlooking 
the  rich  and  rolling  Ridge  Prairie  on  the  northeast.  He  was 
a  Kentuckian  by  birth,  of  portly  stature,  and  had  handsome 
and  impressive  features.  He  was  very  shrewd,  but  of  infinite 
wit  and  humor.  He  had  been  several  times  in  the  Legislature 
in  both  houses,  and  was  one  of  the  best  known  men  in  the 
State.  Hospitable  to  a  fault,  almost,  he  was  fond  of  good  liv- 
ing, of  fine  horses  and  of  good  company.  He  soon  associated 
with  the  Germans,  and  became  remarkably  fond  of  Rhine  wine, 
perhaps  too  much  so.  In  religion  he  was  a  Baptist,  and  I  be- 
lieve even  preached  sometimes ;  but  he  was  no  bigot,  and  when 
it  came  to  friendship,  religion  or  no  religion  made  no  differ- 
ence to  him.  He  was  an  uncompromising  Democrat.  His  eldest 
son,  a  captain  in  the  United  States  army,  had  died  not  long 
before  we  arrived;  his  only  other  son,  William  C.  Kinney, 
then  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  was  a  well  educated  young 
man,  tall  and  handsome,  and  visited  us  quite  often.  In  later 
years,  when  he  had  moved  to  Belleville,  I  came  into  close  rela- 
tions with  him,  and  as  my  son  married  one  of  his  lovely 
daughters,  I  shall,  of  course,  have  to  mention  him  in  the 
future. 

About  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  us,  Mr.  Fred  Wolf,  son 
of  a  rich  land-owner  of  Wachenheim,  had  bought  a  farm,  and 
with  him  resided  August  Dilg,  whom  I  had  slightly  known 
when  he  was  a  student  of  theology  at  Giessen.  Fred  Wolf 
was  soon  joined  by  his  brother  Hermann.  Only  a  short  dis- 
tance from  Wolf's  farm  was  one  owned  by  Joseph  Leder- 
gerber.  It  was  one  of  the  best  in  the  county,  and  Ledergerber 
improved  it  much.  Becoming  my  brother-in-law,  I  shall  have 
frequent  opportunity  to  speak  of  him  and  his  descendants. 


310  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Of  the  Hilgard  settlement  I  have  already  given  a  descrip- 
tion. South  of  the  lower  farm,  about  a  mile  away,  Edward 
Haven,  from  Rhenish  Bavaria,  and  Henry  Sandherr  from 
Rhenish  Hesse,  both  of  whom  had  held  office  in  the  German 
revenue-service,  lived  on  nearly  adjoining  farms.  Both  were 
educated  and  intelligent,  and  their  wives  very  amiable.  About 
two  miles  northeast  of  these  last-mentioned  farms,  George 
Neuhoff,  of  Frankfort,  a  friend  of  my  school-days,  and  impli- 
cated in  the  Frankfort  Attentat,  had  bought  a  farm.  Soon  it 
became  the  temporary  residence  of  Dr.  Gustave  Bunsen  and 
Dr.  Adolph  Berchelmann,  my  associates  in  the  Frankfort 
affair. 

Mr.  Engelmann's  home  soon  became  the  place  of  general 
resort.  With  few  exceptions,  all  our  German  neighbors  kept 
bachelor's  hall.  Being  all  relatives  or  friends,  they  were  made 
very  welcome.  Every  Sunday  we  had  some  of  them  to  dine 
with  us.  At  the  upper  farm  we  young  men,  having  nearly 
all  been  students,  often  enjoyed  ourselves  with  songs  and 
story-telling,  and  sometimes  with  Rhine  wine.  The  Wolfs 
had  received  several  excellent  casks  from  their  own  splendid 
vineyards  at  Wachenheim.  We  also  found  good  whisky-toddy 
acceptable  after  awhile. 

Among  other  things,  I  occupied  myself  with  writing  a 
narrative  of  our  journey  from  New  York  to  St.  Louis,  which 
I  sent  to  Charles.  It  was  published  in  the  "Ausland,"  Mr. 
Cotta  asking  for  more  contributions,  and  also  for  political 
articles  for  the  "Allgemeine  Zeitung."  I  did,  in  the  course 
of  the  winter,  send  him  a  description  of  my  excursion  into 
Missouri,  which  also  appeared  in  the  "Ausland,"  but  the 
copies  sent  to  me  have  been  lost  or  mislaid.  During  that 
journey  I  had,  however,  a  brief  diary  in  which  I  entered  my 
notes  in  pencil  every  evening,  and  which  is  still  amongst  my 
papers,  as  well  as  a  sketch  of  the  article  which  was  published 
in  the  "Ausland." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

First  Year  in  America 

I  will  now  give  an  account  of  my  trip  through  Missouri, 
which,  to  ine  at  least,  was  very  interesting.  Friedrich  was  my 
companion.  Our  outfit  was  very  scant.  In  our  large  German 
hunting  pouches  (Jagdtaschen)  we  had  shirts  and  socks,  shot 
of  various  sizes,  and  flasks  of  cognac.  A  German  powder-horn 
was  slung  across  our  breasts,  and  each  had  a  good  double-bar- 
relled gun.  We  left  the  farm  rather  late,  October  13,  1833, 
and  had  to  walk  the  twenty  miles  to  St.  Louis  rather  quickly, 
so  as  not  to  miss  the  ferry-boat,  which  at  that  time  made  no 
trips  after  dark.  "We  found  some  friends  at  the  place  where 
we  stopped,  and  at  their  suggestion  remained  there  the  next 
day  to  witness  the  horse  races  at  the  fair-ground.  This  was 
quite  a  new  sight  to  me.  Booths  and  tents  had  been  erected 
around  the  track,  where  all  kinds  of  drinks,  pies  and  apples 
were  sold.  There  were  shanties  where  bets  were  made  on  the 
racing,  and  also  other  booths  where,  contrary  to  the  law,  faro- 
banks  were  openly  conducted  and  well  patronized.  There  was 
much  excitement  and  many  fist-fights.  Nobody  interfered,  no 
police  officer  was  to  be  seen.  Some  of  the  horses  were  cele- 
brated racers,  mostly  from  Kentucky.  The  whole  thing  was 
much  like  a  German  kirmess,  only  much  wilder,  —  with  no 
lack  of  quack  doctors  making  speeches  and  recommending 
their  nostrums.  It  was  said  that  on  that  day  the  betting 
amounted  to  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

St.  Louis  had  a  very  different  aspect  from  what  it  did 
when  we  arrived  in  July.  The  river  was  at  a  fair  stage  of 
water,  and  a  great  many  steamboats,  some  of  large  size,  lined 
the  wharf,  which  was  covered  with  all  kinds  of  merchandise. 


312  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

The  streets  were  full  of  people,  particularly  emigrants.  Sev- 
eral thousand,  mostly  Germans  and  Swiss,  had  landed  since 
we  came.  The  houses  of  entertainment  —  bar-rooms  —  were 
crowded.  Evidently  St.  Louis  was  on  the  rise.  Our  goal  was 
Jefferson  City,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  up  the 
Missouri  River;  but  in  going  up  the  south  side  of  it  and 
returning  on  the  north  side,  we  intended  to  visit  the  German 
settlements,  so  that  we  traveled  off  our  road  for  ten  or  twelve 
miles  sometimes  in  order  to  reach  them.  It  would  take  me 
too  far  were  I  to  give  a  description  of  all  the  people  we  stayed 
with,  and  of  their  farms  and  modes  of  living ;  so  I  will  confine 
myself  to  a  few  incidents  which  appeared  to  me  of  interest. 

FOOT-TOUR  THROUGH  MISSOURI  IN  1833 

Through  thick  woods,  over  many  hills,  we  reached  in  the 
evening  Lewis's  Ferry.  Here  Mr.  Ernest  Charles  Angelrodt 
had  made  a  large  purchase  of  8,000  acres  of  land  for  $5,000. 
It  was  mostly  rich  bottom-land,  and  the  farm,  which  con- 
tained several  hundred  acres  of  cultivated  land,  stood  right 
on  the  bank  of  the  river.  Mr.  Angelrodt  had  also  acquired 
the  ferry-franchise  across  the  river.  He  himself  was  now  in 
Germany,  where  he  had  gone  to  bring  back  his  family,  and 
the  place  was  occupied  by  some  young  gentlemen,  one  a  Mr. 
Von  Dachroeden,  from  Thuringia,  probably  a  relative  of  Will- 
iam Von  Humboldt's  wife,  who  was  a  Dachroeden,  the  other 
a  Holsatian  by  the  name  of  Jansen.  Angelrodt  had  been  a 
member  of  what  was  called  the  Thuringian  or  Muehlhausen 
Emigration  Society,  which  had  emigrated  early  in  1832.  They 
had  sent  ahead  pioneers  to  select  the  land,  two  of  whom  were 
the  brothers  Roebling,  of  whom  one  made  his  name  immortal  in 
America  by  his  bold  engineering.  The  Niagara  suspension- 
bridge,  the  first  of  its  kind  here,  some  of  the  splendid  bridges 
in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  and  finally  the  wonderful  suspen- 
sion-bridge across  the  East  River  at  New  York,  planned  by 
him  and  executed  by  his  son,  are  monuments  of  his  genius  and 
skill.  The  pioneers  had  selected  land  in  Pennsylvania.  But 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  313 

when  the  rest  of  the  society  came  on,  some  did  not  like  the 
lands  chosen,  and  the  company  split  up.  Angelrodt,  Dach- 
roeden,  and  others  went  West.  We  found  two  guests  here 
already,  and  some  neighbors  had  called.  We  were  hospitably 
received  and  passed  a  most  pleasant  evening.  A  dozen  or 
more  partridges  which  we  had  killed,  the  black  cook  broiled 
for  our  supper.  We  obtained  a  good  deal  of  information 
from  our  hosts  on  a  number  of  important  points.  The  health 
in  the  neighborhood  was  not  good.  It  was  the  season  for  the 
autumnal  intermittent  fevers  —  not  very  dangerous,  but  still 
having  a  weakening  and  depressing  effect.  Newcomers,  how- 
ever, did  not  seem  to  suffer  more  than  the  old  settlers. 

Towards  night  a  most  violent  storm,  with  very  little  rain, 
shook  the  very  foundations  of  the  large  block-house.  The 
wind  continued  very  high  all  through  the  day,  and  our  kind 
hosts  would  not  let  us  travel  on,  as  they  said  it  was  very  dan- 
gerous to  walk  through  the  timber  in  such  a  high  wind,  dead 
trees  or  big  branches  of  trees  being  very  often  blown  down. 
Their  apprehensions  were  very  well  founded,  for  the  next  day 
we  saw  the  road  covered  with  large  branches  and  even  with 
smaller  green  trees,  which  obstructed  our  passage.  We  passed 
the  windy  day  quite  pleasantly,  hunting  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  which  were  clear  of  timber.  A  big  wild  goose  was  shot 
and  roasted  for  supper,  but  it  was  so  tough  that  we  could 
not  eat  it. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  October  we  marched  onward,  nearly 
all  the  way  through  timber.  At  this  season  of  the  year  the 
forests  are  in  their  glory.  Bryant  and  other  American  writers 
have  not  exaggerated  their  beauty.  While  the  leaves  of  the 
white,  the  black  and  the  laurel  oak  still  retain  their  dark  green, 
the  walnuts  have  assumed  a  brownish  hue,  the  hickories  and 
sycamores  a  dark  yellow,  and  the  hard  and  soft  maples  a  bril- 
liant yellow.  The  undergrowth,  —  bushes  like  the  sumach,  — 
shines  in  resplendent  red.  In  the  bottoms  the  trees  are  often 
of  a  tremendous  size,  above  all  the  sycamore  (plantane).  We 
found  some  that  measured  thirty  feet  in  circumference.  Some 


314  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

of  them  had  decayed  and  fallen  down,  and  in  the  hollow  of 
them  we  could  stand  upright. 

Near  the  river  the  hills  are  pretty  high  and  even  steep, 
and  now  and  then  we  had  from  the  top  of  them  an  extensive 
view  of  the  river  and  the  hills  on  the  north.  After  a  march  of 
two  days,  having  been  hospitably  received  by  the  farmers 
wherever  we  stopped,  and  having  been  charged  for  lodgings 
only  in  one  or  two  places,  —  namely,  at  houses  of  entertainment 
for  man  or  beast,  —  we  reached  a  little  apology  for  a  town 
called  Newport  on  the  Missouri  River,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
River  Au  Boeuf.  We  found  some  Germans  here,  old  residents, 
and  obtained  much  information.  The  best  land  in  the  bottoms 
was  already  taken  up,  as  was  the  land  on  the  hills  in  favorable 
locations,  and  was  selling  for  $5.00  or  more  an  acre  if  partly 
cultivated.  Away  from  the  river  the  want  of  communication 
made  farming  unprofitable,  and  clearing  the  timber  and  plow- 
ing the  hills  was  most  laborious  work.  As  in  every  new  country, 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  sickness.  At  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  river  there  were  fine  prairie  lands,  easy  to  cultivate ; 
but  as  they  were  far  from  the  markets  they  were  considered  by 
many  then  and  for  years  to  come,  as  almost  valueless.  This  was 
the  sum  and  substance  of  what  we  learned  at  Newport  from  in- 
telligent Germans,  one  of  whom  was  a  land  surveyor.  And  it 
may  be  here  remarked  that  on  both  sides  of  the  river  these 
statements  were  affirmed  by  both  Americans  and  Germans, 
many  of  the  latter  denouncing  Mr.  Duden  bitterly  for  his 
all  too  rosy  and  often  very  inaccurate  descriptions  of  this  part 
of  Missouri,  and  for  having  caused  so  many  to  lose  their 
money,  their  spirits,  and  their  health  by  injudicious  settle- 
ments. 

The  weather  thus  far  had  been  beautiful,  though  too  hot 
in  the  middle  of  the  day,  —  so  hot  that  even  the  rattlesnakes 
came  out  into  the  road.  We  shot  several  of  them  within  a  few 
days.  But  a  sudden  change  occurred  when  we  left  Newport. 
It  turned  quite  cold,  and  on  the  22nd  of  October  we  had  a 
slight  snow-fall. 


315 

The  farther  west  we  went  the  fewer  settlements  we  found, 
and  one  evening  when  we  reached,  rather  late,  a  very  clean 
and  comfortable  house,  where  we  hoped  to  stay  all  night,  a 
very  pretty  young  woman  turned  us  off,  excusing  herself  be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  her  husband,  though  at  the  same  time 
showing  us  the  way  to  another  farm  off  the  road,  where  we 
could  stay.  We  found  this  to  be  a  general  rule.  Even  where 
their  husbands  were  near  by  in  the  field  or  hunting  in  the 
woods,  the  women  never  gave  us  an  assurance  that  we  could 
stay  over  night.  But  as  soon  as  the  men  came  near,  they  at 
once  told  us  to  come  in  and  make  ourselves  at  home,  without 
asking  their  husbands,  for  it  was  a  self -understood  matter  that 
no  decent  looking  person  should  be  denied  a  night's  lodging. 
The  industry,  neatness  and  handiness  of  these  women  were  ex- 
traordinary. In  a  very  short  time  they  cooked  us  good  cof- 
fee, broiled  some  slices  of  ham,  and  made  us  either  fine  corn- 
bread  or  biscuits.  At  this  season  of  the  year  there  was  often 
venison  in  the  house.  "We  usually  had  partridges  or  wild 
turkeys  along,  which  we  got  for  breakfast. 

Going  out  of  our  way  to  visit  an  intelligent  farmer  from 
Hanover  in  the  Missouri  Bottom,  at  the  mouth  of  Deer  Creek, 
we  saw  some  beautiful  scenery.  The  bluffs  come  near  to  the 
river  here,  forming  steep  stone  walls.  They  are  covered  with 
the  American  cedar  —  Juniperus  Virginiana  —  first  seen  by 
me  in  the  botanical  garden  at  Frankfort.  In  the  night  we  had 
a  splendid  sight.  Across  the  river  some  bottom  prairies  were 
on  fire.  Beaching  the  road  to  Jefferson  City  again,  after 
climbing  steep  bluffs,  we  passed  in  canoes  several  large  creeks, 
and  on  ferry-boats  the  Gasconade  and  Osage  Rivers.  The 
Osage  is  as  wide  as  the  Main  at  Frankfort,  and  at  certain  sea- 
sons of  the  year  navigable  with  small  steamboats. 

We  passed  the  evening  near  its  mouth  and  spent  the  next 
morning  very  pleasantly  on  a  large  plantation,  of  which  sev- 
eral hundred  acres  were  planted  with  tobacco,  hemp  and  corn 
The  owner,  quite  an  old  man,  a  captain  of  the  revolutionary 
army,  had  given  over  the  management  of  his  farm  to  his  son 


316 

and  the  wife  of  the  latter.  The  old  gentleman  was  wealthy 
and  had  a  great  many  negroes.  I  may  say  here,  once  for  all, 
that  wherever  I  found  large  plantations,  the  colored  people, 
that  is  to  say  the  house-servants,  such  as  the  coachmen,  garden- 
ers, nurses  and  cooks,  were  very  kindly  treated.  The  negro 
children  at  this  place,  (and  they  were  pretty  and  comical 
looking  little  folks,)  played  with  the  white  children  of  their 
masters  and  made  as  much  noise  and  took  as  many  liberties 
as  the  others.  Our  old  host  at  the  Osage,  for  instance,  took 
them  on  his  lap,  wiped  their  mouths  and  noses  and  performed 
other  unmentionable  services  for  them,  the  same  as  he  did  to 
his  white  grandchildren.  How  the  mere  working-hands  were 
treated,  I  had  no  opportunity  to  learn;  but  as  in  Missouri, 
even  on  the  largest  farms,  the  number  of  slaves  was  very  lim- 
ited and  overseers  dispensed  with,  I  do  not  think  as  a  rule 
they  were  harshly  treated.  Nearly  all  the  blacks  we  met 
looked  well  fed  and  contented.  Regarding  negro  slavery,  I 
find  in  my  diary  the  following  remarks: 

' '  The  negroes  hereabouts  are  generally  treated  very  kindly. 
Their  practical  condition  is  not  a  hard  one.  As  a  rule,  they 
live  in  families,  have  their  own  separate  little  houses,  and 
oftentimes  some  cattle  which  belong  to  them.  They  are  looked 
upon  as  a  lower  race,  destined  by  nature  to  serve  a  higher. 
But  their  comparatively  satisfactory  status  does  by  no  means 
excuse  the  principle  of  slavery,  and  it  must  be  combatted  with 
all  our  might.  The  Germans  in  Missouri,  as  far  as  my  informa- 
tion reaches,  own  no  slaves  as  yet,  and  hate  the  system.  But 
time  will  dull  their  opposition  and  their  descendants  will 
grow  up  in  the  idea  that  slavery  is  an  unalterable  fact.  Ger- 
mans ought  not  to  go  into  a  Slave  State.  THE  RUPTURE  BE- 
TWEEN THE  FREE  AND  SLAVE  STATES  IS  INEVITABLE,  and  who 

would  then  like  to  fight  on  the  WRONG  SIDE  ? ' ' 

Thirty  years  later,  Mr.  Seward  called  the  conflict  be- 
tween free  and  slave  states  irrepressible.  Prom  my  short  ob- 
servation of  the  drift  of  public  opinion,  I  called  it  the  same 
then. 

On  the  26th  of  October,  we  at  last  reached  Jefferson  City, 
having  travelled  by  a  somewhat  circuitous  road  about  two 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  317 

hundred  miles  on  foot.  Jefferson  City  was  then,  as  it  is  now, 
the  capital  of  the  great  State  of  Missouri,  and  contained  about 
500  people.  It  was  situated  rather  picturesquely  on  the  hilla 
bordering  the  Missouri  River.  From  the  heights  you  have  a 
fair  view  of  the  rich  bottom-lands  opposite.  The  state-house 
is  rather  a  pretty  building  and  some  of  the  residences  are 
well  built.  The  other  buildings  are  insignificant.  We  stayed 
there  a  day  or  two  at  a  poor  inn,  where  we  had  laundry  ing 
done,  and  where  the  eating  was  far  inferior  to  what  we  had 
had  at  the  farm-houses  without  charge.  Here  we  crossed  the 
mighty  river  in  a  little  Indian  canoe,  a  hollowed-out  tree. 
We  felt  a  little  uneasy,  but  the  river  was  calm.  We  now 
went  down  the  river,  part  of  the  way  through  most  fertile 
bottom  and  prairie  districts,  long  since  settled  and  cultivated. 
It  was  Indian  summer,  the  evenings  cool  and  charmingly 
beautiful.  The  sun  set  in  deep  purple;  the  sky  was  all  the 
hues  of  the  rainbow.  The  sun  by  day  and  the  moon  at  night 
were  surrounded  by  a  rosy  haze;  while  the  atmosphere  was 
filled  with  a  magical  vapor  arising  from  the  burning  of  dis- 
tant prairies. 

Not  far  from  a  French  settlement  called  Cote  Sans  Des- 
sein,  we  met  on  a  rich  plantation  with  the  most  extraordinary 
hospitality.  We  arrived  there  in  the  afternoon,  with  the  in- 
tention of  merely  taking  a  rest;  but  the  owner,  who  had  two 
very  handsome  and  ladylike  daughters,  insisted  on  our  stay- 
ing all  night.  We  had  a  most  sumptuous  supper  of  coffee, 
buttermilk,  broiled  venison  steak,  fried  potatoes,  and  biscuits, 
as  only  Southern  women  know  how  to  make  them,  preserves, 
etc.  After  supper  we  had  a  good  smoke,  the  gentleman  letting 
us  have  a  roll  of  his  best  tobacco  raised  on  his  own  plantation. 
We  talked  about  Washington  and  General  Lafayette,  and  the 
old  man  was  very  happy  when  I  told  him  that  when  I  left 
Paris  he  was  in  excellent  health.  Next  morning  some  friends 
called,  a  Mr.  Langle  and  a  Mr.  Armstrong,  the  latter  a  some- 
what educated  man.  He  knew  that  Napoleon  was  dead,  about 
whom  I  had  been  frequently  asked  by  people  who  believed 


318  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

him  still  living.  Armstrong  was  also  aware  that  Prussia  was 
a  part  of  Germany,  and  that  old  Fritz  had  made  it  a  great 
country. 

The  girls  begged  hard  for  us  to  stay  at  least  another 
day ;  but  we  pleaded  want  of  time.  They  brought  me  a  copy- 
book of  one  of  their  brothers,  and  made  me  write  in  it  a  sen- 
tence to  copy,  which  should  be,  they  said,  a  memorial  of  our 
visit  to  their  house.  Armstrong  and  Langle,  after  an  excellent 
breakfast,  went  along  with  us  for  several  miles  for  company 
and  gave  us  directions  for  our  day's  traveling.  We  got  lost, 
nevertheless,  in  the  afternoon,  and  wandered  several  miles 
out  of  our  way.  On  one  large  creek,  or  rather  small  river, 
the  River  Aux  Vasse,  we  found  no  ferry-man,  but  the  boat 
fortunately  was  on  our  side,  and  we  unchained  it  and  crossed. 
Several  times  we  met  with  serious  difficulties  in  getting  over 
creeks.  People  on  horseback  and  in  wagons  could  cross  them 
at  almost  any  time  of  the  year.  For  hunters  and  travelers 
on  foot,  a  large  tree  on  the  banks  would  be  cut  down  so  as  to 
lie  across  the  water.  The  trunk  being  round,  it  was  not  a  very 
easy  matter  to  walk  across  it,  particularly  where  the  banks 
were  high.  We  sometimes  hesitated  whether  we  should  not 
rather  strip  and  wade  through  the  water;  but  using  our  guns 
as  a  sort  of  balancing  poles,  we  usually  managed  to  get  across. 
Over  hill  and  dale  we  marched  on,  being  very  kindly  treated 
everywhere  and  noticing  with  pleasure  the  cleanliness  and 
noiseless  industry  of  the  women,  until  we  reached  Loutre  Is- 
land on  the  Missouri  River,  connected  with  the  mainland  by 
a  causeway.  It  lies  near  the  northern  bank  and  is  many  miles 
long.  It  is  considered  exceedingly  fertile.  Some  large  planta- 
tions are  on  it,  and,  in  addition  to  tobacco,  cotton  is  raised. 

German  settlements  we  had  not  found  thus  far  on  the 
northern  bank.  We  reached  now  the  neighborhood  of  what 
might  be  called  the  veritable  Duden  settlement,  in  what  was, 
in  Duden 's  time,  Montgomery  County.  We  had  again  lost 
our  way,  late  in  the  evening,  in  the  woods,  and  came  to  a 
creek  without  a  bridge.  Calling  for  the  ferry-man  we  received 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  319 

no  answer,  but  heard  at  some  distance  down  the  creek  the 
barking  of  dogs.  We  took  off  our  shoes  and  stockings,  waded 
through  the  water,  which  was  very  cold,  went  in  the  direction 
where  we  heard  the  dogs  still  barking,  and  walking  about  half 
a  mile,  came  to  a  log-house  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  little 
prairie.  A  tall,  fine-looking  man  came  out.  We  told  him  our 
story,  and  he  at  once  bade  us  come  in.  It  was  an  entirely  new 
settlement  of  the  previous  spring.  The  small  log-house  of  one 
room  only  was  hardly  finished.  Some  ten  acres  were  in  corn. 
There  was  a  little  garden  and  a  potato-patch  near  the  house, 
and  a  log  stable.  There  was  no  fence  yet  around  the  premises. 
A  good  fire  lighted  the  room,  which  was  doubly  welcome  to 
us  after  our  tramp  through  the  creek  on  a  very  cold  evening. 
The  host 's  handsome  wife  lighted  up  the  room  with  her  pres- 
ence beside  the  fire  in  the  chimney.  They  had  had  their  sup- 
per. But  in  a  very  short  time  she  made  us  corn  cakes,  —  corn- 
slaps,  —  broiled  us  some  ham,  baked  us  some  potatoes  —  all 
before  the  large  fireplace,  and  cooked  us  a  cup  of  coffee;  so 
we  fared  exceedingly  well.  We  gave  her  a  dozen  or  so  part- 
ridges for  breakfast.  They  were  Kentuckians,  but  treated  us 
as  old  friends.  We  had  a  good  smoke  and  I  presented  our 
host  with  part  of  the  tobacco  given  to  me  by  my  friend  at 
Cote  Sans  Dessein.  The  Kentuckian  was  very  well  informed 
about  American  affairs.  He  had  fought  under  Jackson  in 
the  Florida  war,  thought  him  a  masterly  general,  but,  being 
a  friend  of  Henry  Clay,  was  opposed  to  him  now  in  politics. 
He  spoke  quite  intelligently  on  the  bank  and  tariff  questions. 
As  bed-time  drew  near  we  became  somewhat  uneasy  as 
to  where  we  were  going  to  rest.  But  the  young  woman 
spread  a  buffalo  robe  on  the  floor  near  the  fireplace  and  in 
front  of  the  only  bed.  She  put  some  pillows  against  a  couple 
of  chairs  for  us  to  rest  our  heads  on,  took  one  of  the  big 
blankets  from  their  bed  and  disappeared.  We  retired.  There 
was  no  other  light  in  the  room  but  the  fire  in  the  chimney. 
After  a  while  the  couple  retired  also. 


320  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

We  slept  soundly.  When  we  woke  up,  she  was  up  al- 
ready preparing  the  breakfast  and  he  was  feeding  the  horses 
and  cows.  After  a  good  breakfast  we  left  these  really  charm- 
ing people.  They  were  not  refined,  but  behaved  as  well  as 
any  lord  or  lady  could  have  done;  of  course,  payment  was 
refused. 

EARLY   FOREIGN  SETTLEMENTS  IN   MISSOURI 

It  had  frozen  hard  during  the  night  —  the  29th  of  Oc- 
tober. Our  night-quarters  we  took  at  a  German  farm.  It 
was  a  new  clearing  on  hilly  and  broken  land.  We  were  kindly 
received,  but  everything  was  as  yet  in  disorder,  and  we  had 
not  near  as  good  accommodations  as  we  had  in  the  American 
houses.  The  Germans  dislike  the  bottoms  on  account  of  their 
insalubrity  and  also  the  prairies;  they  prefer  springs  and 
woods.  The  Americans  in  Missouri  always  wondered  why  the 
Germans  generally  selected  the  poorest  land  to  settle  on.  Next 
day,  we  came  to  a  little  place  called  Marthasville,  containing 
half  a  dozen  houses,  near  which  lived  several  German  farmers 
—  the  Rasmus  brothers  —  and  finally  reached  the  largest 
of  all  the  German  settlements,  called  the  Berlin  settlement. 
One  farm  joined  the  other.  Most  of  these  Germans  were 
highly  educated  men  who  had  been  here  for  some  years  and 
had  settled  near  the  place  where  Mr.  Duden  had  dwelt  for 
some  time.  They  wanted  to  be  near  his  Eldorado.  Their 
houses  were  comfortable,  some  even  having  brick  houses.  Mr. 
Von  Bock,  a  perfect  gentleman,  seemed  to  be  the  soul  of  the 
colony.  His  farm  was  well  cultivated  and  comprised  some 
rich  bottom-land.  In  some  of  their  log-houses  we  even  found 
some  good  pictures,  libraries  and  pianos.  But  —  alas  —  there 
was  hardly  a  family  where  there  was  not  sickness,  and  that 
was  the  general  complaint,  not  only  among  the  Germans,  but 
among  the  Americans  also.  Our  stay  there  was  a  very  pleas- 
ant one.  Of  course,  we  went  to  the  old  Duden  place.  It  was 
in  a  decaying  condition ;  the  log-house,  one  of  the  poorest,  was 
occupied  at  the  time  by  a  shoemaker.  The  few  acres  which 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  321 

had  been  in  cultivation  were  overgrown  with  weeds,  and  the 
fences  were  down.  The  house  stood  on  a  hill;  a  good  spring 
was  on  the  land,  and  Lake  Creek  near  by.  It  was  a  romantic 
spot,  but  the  soil  was  not  rich  and  certainly  not  well  adapted 
to  farming.  We  spent  the  night  in  the  neighborhood  at  Mr. 
Houns's,  a  Pennsylvanian,  and  were  well  entertained.  Almost 
without  exception,  the  Germans  expressed  themselves  greatly 
disappointed,  and  blamed  Duden  for  having  exaggerated  the 
advantages  and  minimized  the  drawbacks  of  this  part  of  the 
State  of  Missouri.  All  agreed,  however,  in  this,  that  their 
American  neighbors  were  uniformly  kind  and  good  people. 

We  had  intended  to  go  as  far  down  as  St.  Charles  and 
there  cross  the  river  for  St.  Louis;  but  about  fifteen  miles 
west  of  that  place  we  mistook  the  road  again,  and  we  found 
ourselves  on  the  river  opposite  Lewis's  Ferry  at  Angelrodt's 
place,  where  we  had  stayed  two  days  on  our  trip  up  the  river 
to  Jefferson  City.  We  were  pretty  well  tired  out,  having  on 
an  average  walked  twenty  miles  a  day.  To  be  sure,  some  days 
we  made  thirty  miles  and  more.  Besides,  we  were  anxious 
for  news  from  home.  We  had  a  pleasant  dinner  at  the  Ferry, 
but  went  some  miles  farther  on  to  St.  Louis,  which  we  reached 
on  the  third  of  November,  and  on  the  fourth  I  was  again 
among  my  dear,  dear  friends  at  Imsbach,  which  name  had 
been  given  to  the  lower  farm. 

I  must  say  that  this  excursion  into  Missouri  was  of  very 
great  benefit  to  me.  Traveling  as  we  did  on  foot,  we  learned 
more  of  the  topography,  of  the  nature  of  the  soil,  and  of  the 
fauna  and  flora  of  the  country,  than  we  could  have  by  any  other 
mode  of  traveling.  But  the  main  advantage  to  me  was  the 
knowledge  I  gained  of  the  character  of  the  people.  We  stopped 
in  old  French  settlements  made  before  Missouri  was  a  State  — 
1821  —  and  when  it  formed  a  part  of  Louisiana.  Indifferent 
farmers  they  were,  fond  of  hunting  and  particularly  fishing. 
Their  social  temperaments  made  them  live  in  villages,  where 
they  could  have  music  and  dancing  and  could  play  at  cards. 
They  were  a  gay  and  harmless  people,  and  indolent,  though 


322  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

their  young  men  would  frequently  hire  themselves  out  to  the 
fur  companies  for  a  year  or  two  as  hunters  or  trappers.  But 
they  would  always  return  to  their  old  homes.  Of  politics 
they  knew  little  and  cared  less.  Some  of  the  Americans  were 
natives  of  Missouri ;  for  the  rich  bottom-lands  had  at  an  early 
day  brought  many  Southerners  to  the  Missouri  Territory ;  but 
the  great  majority  of  them  were  from  the  South,  mostly  from 
Kentucky  and  Virginia,  and  a  goodly  number  from  Tennessee, 
North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Now  and  then  some 
Pennsylvania  Dutch  were  found.  As  everywhere  else  in  the 
United  States,  these  were  good  farmers,  a  little  slow,  but  very 
shrewd  and  superior  to  all  their  neighbors  in  making  money. 
My  long  experience  and  life  in  this  country  has  satisfied  me 
that  the  real  Pennsylvania  Dutchmen,  a  race,  however,  now 
becoming  extinct,  is  in  ordinary  business  matters  more  than 
a  match  for  the  keenest  Yankee.  I  do  not  think  we  found  a 
solitary  New  Englander  or  Eastern  man  during  our  whole 
journey. 

It  will  not  do  to  generalize.  But  I  must  say,  I  found  these 
Southern  people  very  frank,  open-hearted,  hospitable  and 
kind.  There  was  very  little  refinement  about  them,  but  also 
no  rudeness.  Their  mental  horizon  was  limited,  but  they  had 
natural  good  sense,  and,  by  experience,  under  very  difficult 
circumstances,  they  had  acquired  a  sound  judgment  in  all 
matters  of  interest  to  them.  The  free  institutions,  the  perils 
they  had  to  encounter  as  pioneers  in  the  wilderness  had  given 
them  a  self-possession  and  a  spirit  of  independence,  which 
placed  them  far  above  even  the  well-to-do  country  population 
in  Europe.  The  poorer  and  smaller  farmers  could  not  be 
compared  with  what  is  called  in  the  old  country  the  peasants. 
Of  course,  there  were  exceptions  enough.  The  very  freedom 
from  all  restraint,  the  absence  of  police  and  of  the  military 
led  to  some  excesses ;  and  where  they  were  addicted  to  drink- 
ing they  were  capable  of  almost  any  outrage.  There  were 
lazy  men  of  course,  who,  after  having  broken  up  a  few  acres 
for  corn  and  potatoes,  lived  by  hunting,  and  when  game  got 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  323 

scarce  or  the  settlements  thicker,  sold  out  at  any  price  and 
moved  farther  west.  Upon  the  whole,  I  formed  a  very  favor- 
able opinion  of  these  Western  men  and  have  never  changed  it. 

HOME  IN  ILLINOIS  AGAIN 

In  contrast  to  the  great  sickliness  in  Missouri,  I  found  our 
family  and  all  our  friends  in  the  neighborhood  in  excellent 
health,  busily  engaged  in  home  and  farm  work,  stripping  the 
ears  from  the  high  corn  stalks,  gathering  the  rich  crop  of 
peaches  and  apples,  and  drying  the  fruit  and  making  apple 
butter.  Mr.  Engelmann,  who  had  a  remarkable  aptitude  for 
mechanical  work,  was  repairing  enclosures,  making  gates  and 
doing  many  other  useful  things  at  the  work-bench,  always  in 
good  spirits  and  meeting  the  many  difficulties  of  the  situation 
manfully. 

Mr.  Theodore  Hilgard,  Sr.,  of  Zweibruecken,  who  emi 
grated  to  America  with  his  family,  settled  in  Belleville  in  1836. 
He  has  published  for  private  family  circles,  very  interesting 
memoirs  of  his  eventful  life.     Speaking  of  his  uncle,  Fred- 
erick Engelmann  says: 

"It  certainly  was  not  an  easy  matter  to  find  a  more 
pleasant  and  a  more  amiable  gentleman  than  this  uncle  of 
mine.  Under  all  circumstances  serene,  or  at  least  self-com- 
posed, he  gave  the  kindest  reception  to  everyone  at  his  hos- 
pitable home,  in  which  with  his  equally  kind-hearted  and  hos- 
pitable wife,  Betty,  one  was  often  reminded  of  Philemon  and 
Baucis.  In  conversation  always  lively,  he  was  often  witty 
and  spirituel.  His  attention  and  politeness  to  ladies  were 
always  the  same.  He  belonged  to  the  old  school  which  ladies 
commend  as  far  superior  in  gallantry  and  refinement  to  the 
present  generation.  Views  of  life  clear,  temperate  and  inild, 
fruits  of  wide  experience  and  a  clear  understanding,  added  to 
the  warmest  feeling  for  everything  good  and  beautiful,  were 
his  characteristics.  He  was  of  constant  activity  and  even  in 
his  old  age  he  worked  in  his  vineyard,  attended  to  the  orchard 
and  did  very  many  other  things  necessary  in  a  household.  He 
had  even  a  quite  poetical  vein,  and  the  verses  he  made  oc- 
casionally, while  unpretentious,  were  flowing  and  genial." 


324  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

And  of  Mother  Betty,  Mr.  Hilgard  also  speaks  in  the  most 
appreciative  terms.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  foolish  talk  and 
writing  about  mothers-in-law.  I  lived  with  mine  in  the  closest 
and  most  intimate  relations  for  nearly  thirty  years  until  her 
much  regretted  death  in  a  very  old  age,  and  during  that  time 
there  never  was  one  solitary  moment  that  our  mutual  esteem 
and  love  suffered  the  slightest  interruption.  A  clearer  mind 
and  a  better  heart  united  in  one  person,  it  would  have  been 
hard  to  find.  Our  worthy  grandparents  were  worthy  of  one 
another.  To  the  most  warm  and  enthusiastic  praise  Cousin 
Hilgard  gives  to  the  character  of  Aunt  Josephine,  I  can  add 
nothing  but  my  most  heartfelt  affirmation.  All  the  other 
children  were  worthy  of  their  parents  and  in  the  course  of  my 
narrative  I  shall  have  to  speak  of  all  of  them  more  than  once. 
Of  course,  these  pictures  were  drawn  by  friendly  hands,  and 
more  impartial  witnesses  may  have  found  here  and  there 
weaknesses,  peculiarities  and  prejudices;  but,  take  it  all  in 
all,  the  family,  and  the  affiliated  members,  John  and  Marianna 
Scheel,  were  a  model  family,  to  which  I  felt  proud  to  belong. 
A  few  words  more  from  Mr.  Hilgard 's  "Reminiscences"  in 
regard  to  which  I  can  give  testimony  as  being  true  in  every 
respect : 

"This  family  led  a  real  patriarchal  life  on  their  farm 
about  six  miles  from  Belleville ;  and  although  it  had  for  many 
years  to  struggle  against  greater  difficulties  than  many  others 
it  prospered  in  course  of  time  in  all  its  numerous  branches,  and 
takes  through  several  of  its  members  a  very  high  rank  in  the 
county  they  live  in  (1860).  Whence  comes  this  success  which 
has  been  wanting  to  so  many  other  well  educated  families  who 
immigrated  with  vastly  greater  pecuniary  means?  I  am  con- 
vinced that  one  of  the  main  reasons  was  that  this  family  em- 
braced at  once  their  new  home  most  cordially,  accommodated 
themselves  cheerfully  to  the  new  surrounding  circumstances, 
acknowledged  their  advantages  and  praised  them,  and  did  not 
let  their  disadvantages  engender  feelings  of  bitterness  or  un- 
measured condemnation.  Thus  they  became,  more  than  the 
other  German  families,  befriended  with  American  society,  and 
so  it  became  possible  for  its  members  to  obtain  public  recog- 
nition and  important  public  offices.  Another  reason  for  their 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  325 

getting  on  so  well,  was  the  fact  that  their  means  were  quite 
small  when  they  first  arrived  in  the  county. ' ' 

STUDIES  AND  JOURNALISTIC  LABORS 

Another  benefit  I  derived  from  my  Missouri  journey  was 
that  I  acquired  more  confidence  in  speaking  English.  In 
fact,  I  found  no  difficulty  at  all  in  being  understood.  Fried- 
rich  not  being  able  to  speak  it,  all  the  conversation  devolved 
upon  me  during  these  three  weeks.  The  idea  of  continuing 
in  the  legal  profession  heretofore  floating  somewhat  vaguely 
in  my  mind,  now  found  a  sort  of  lodgment.  For  the  present, 
however,  I  formed  no  settled  determination.  By  mail  and 
through  friends  who  had  left  Frankfort  in  the  course  of  the 
summer,  I  had  in  the  meantime  received  a  large,  highly  in- 
teresting correspondence  from  home,  to  which,  of  course.  I  at 
once  replied.  My  description  of  our  travels  from  New  York 
to  St.  Louis  had  been  received,  and  was  about  to  be  published. 
My  journey  through  part  of  Missouri  at  once  suggested  itself 
as  a  fit  subject  for  the  "Ausland,"  and  so,  with  the  help  of 
my  diary,  I  wrote  a  rather  extended  description  of  it,  and 
dwelt  at  some  length  upon  the  character  of  the  Western  peo- 
ple. It  also  was  published,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  and 
more  was  asked  by  Mr.  Cotta.  Besides  the  agreeable  occupa- 
tion these  writings  gave  me,  the  handsome  remunerations  I 
received  were  not  to  be  despised  in  my  present  condition,  as 
I  did  not  want  to  ask  more  sacrifices  from  my  family  than 
were  absolutely  necessary. 

In  the  course  of  my  visit  to  the  very  region  of  the  country 
to  which  Mr.  Duden's  book  had  so  strongly  invited  German 
immigrants,  I  had  become  so  well  satisfied  that  he  was  an 
unsafe  guide  and  had  been  the  cause  of  so  many  serious  dis- 
appointments that  I  determined  to  counteract  in  some  measure 
the  effects  of  his  publication  by  writing  an  extended  review 
of  it.  As  Duden  was  a  highly  respectable  man,  whose  errors 
were  owing  to  insufficient  experience  and  to  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  man  without  a  family,  with  ample  means  and  of  a  rather 


326  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

sanguine  and  optimistic  character,  my  critique  was  not  in- 
tended to  be  a  captious  and  hostile  one.  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
however,  that  in  a  later  publication  of  his  concerning  his 
views  on  the  United  States  he  took  occasion  in  the  preface 
to  complain  of  my  review,  and  returned  my  kindness  with  silly 
and  reprehensive  remarks,  which  were  the  best  proof  of  my 
having  hit  the  mark. 

This  publication  of  mine,  written  in  a  winter  of  the  ex- 
tremest  cold,  where,  though  near  a  rousing  fire  in  the  big 
chimney  of  the  old  log-house,  my  left  hand  was  icy  cold  while 
my  right  moved  over  the  paper  close  to  the  fire,  and  where 
the  ink  froze  until  I  placed  it  almost  in  the  fireplace,  was  com- 
posed in  1834  and  published  by  Brother  Charles  under  the 
title  of  "Review  (Beleuchtung)  of  Duden's  Report  Concern- 
ing the  Western  States  of  North  America."  It  was  very 
favorably  reviewed  in  many  German  journals  and  reviews, 
and  added  also  considerable  to  my  earnings.  My  good  sister 
Josephine  very  amiably  assisted  me,  copying  in  her  fair  hand 
my  poorly  written  manuscript,  and  now  and  then  correcting 
my  punctuation  and  other  slips. 

To  show  the  spirit  in  which  my  critique  was  conceived 
I  will  give  here  a  few  lines  of  the  introduction.  I  said :  "I 
agree  with  Duden  that  emigration  may  become  a  necessity, 
and,  if  properly  conducted,  is  of  advantage  to  the  emigrant. 
I  do  not  essentially  differ  in  my  views  on  the  subject  from 
him;  nevertheless,  I  cannot  subscribe  to  many  of  them,  and 
I  deem  his  'Report'  of  the  region  of  the  country  of  which  he 
speaks  and  of  the  conditions  the  emigrants  are  expected  to 
find  there,  as  too  flattering  and  too  vividly  colored."  Does 
this  require  any  proof  when  we  find  passages  like  the  follow- 
ing ip  Duden's  work:  "It  will  not  and  cannot  be  believed  in 
Europe  how  easily  and  agreeably  one  lives  in  these  western 
countries.  It  sounds  too  strange,  too  fabulous,  to  be  believed, 
that  such  regions  of  the  world  exist,  which  have  so  long  been 
banished  to  the  world  of  fairies." 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  327 

I  also  differed  from  Mr.  Duden  as  regards  the  salubrity 
of  the  climate  to  new-comers  and  the  almost  constant  mildness 
of  the  winters  in  the  West.  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  destroy 
the  illusions  which  his  much  too  favorable  opinion  on  the  sub- 
ject might  create.  But  what  perhaps  more  than  anything  else 
aroused  Mr.  Duden 's  ire,  was  my  unqualified  condemnation 
of  his  elaborate  attempt,  filling  many  pages  of  his  book,  to 
justify  African  slavery.  Knowing  that  this  drawback  existed 
in  Missouri,  of  which  State  he  had  become  the  enthusiastic 
champion,  he  was  driven  to  this  apology,  which,  particularly 
as  coming  from  a  German,  I  denounced  in  the  strongest  terms. 
He  denied  that  the  slavery  question  was  one  likely  to  divide 
the  Union;  I,  on  the  contrary,  prophesied  in  my  "Review" 
that  it  would  lead  to  secession  and  necessarily  to  a  bloody  civil 
war. 

Some  time  after  my  return  Dr.  George  Engelmann  and 
myself  went  to  the  new  Swiss  settlement  in  Madison  County 
called  Highland,  northeast  of  Lebanon,  then  as  large  as  and 
really  handsomer  than  Belleville.  An  immense  prairie  ex- 
panded itself  before  us.  Prairie  chickens  started  up  to  the 
right  and  the  left  where  we  rode,  and  we  met  herds  of  deer, 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  in  number;  the  clatter  of  our  horses' 
hoofs,  however,  the  ground  being  frozen,  set  them  running,  so 
that  the  doctor,  who  had  a  rifle  along  with  him,  did  not  get 
a  shot  at  them.  Highland,  at  that  time,  was  only  a  group  of 
some  three  or  four  farms,  which  had  been  purchased  by  the 
Messrs.  Koepfli,  father  and  two  sons,  and  the  Suppiger  family. 
In  the  midst  of  a  prairie  two  parallel  ridges  rose,  on  and  be- 
tween which  these  farms  were  situated.  Trees  had  been  plant- 
ed and  there  was  also  some  timber  near  a  creek  not  far  off,  and 
several  large  orchards  belonging  to  the  farms.  It  was  really 
a  very  excellent  spot  though  the  appellation  of  "Rigi,"  which 
had  been  given  to  one  of  these  ridges,  was  rather  far-fetched. 

Both  of  these  families  had  considerable  means  and,  what 
was  more,  real,  practical,  Swiss  common-sense.  The  old  gentle- 
man was  a  physician,  the  sons,  young  and  stout,  active  busi- 


328  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ness  men;  and  so  were  the  Suppigers.  The  had  preempted 
large  tracts  of  prairie  for  future  use.  The  Koepflis  had  a  thou- 
sand acres.  They  afterwards  laid  out  on  part  of  their  farm 
the  present  lovely  and  flourishing  town  of  Highland.  For 
awhile  vine-raising  was  gone  into  to  a  considerable  extent. 
But  raising  cattle  on  these  large  prairies  was  one  of  the  princi- 
pal and  profitable  pursuits  of  these  families.  In  one  respect 
they  were  at  a  disadvantage  with  the  German  settlers  in  St. 
Glair  County.  While  the  latter  had  the  near  market  of  the 
fast  growing  city  of  St.  Louis,  the  Highlanders  had  to  come 
forty  miles  to  that  place  and  partly  over  very  bad  roads.  A 
railroad  did  not  strike  Highland  until  about  thirty  years  after 
our  visit. 

We  were  most  hospitably  received,  and  passed  two  very 
pleasant  days  with  the  Koepfli  family.  I  remained  more  or 
less  connected  with  the  two  brothers,  particularly  with  Sol- 
omon Koepfli,  who  was  the  leading  genius  of  the  place  and 
full  of  public  spirit.  I  became  their  legal  counsel  and  attorney 
in  some  very  important  cases,  but  outside  of  that  we  were 
friends  and  visited  one  another  occasionally.  They  both  died, 
however,  at  their  best  age,  some  fifteen  years  ago.  Their 
father  had  died  long  before. 

My  correspondence,  literary  labors  and  the  study  of  his- 
tory and  geography,  and  the  many  visitors  we  constantly  re- 
ceived, neighbors  as  well  as  new-comers,  took  up  most  of  my 
time.  The  Engelmanns  and  Scheel  hunted  much  and  before 
Christmas  they  had  shot  a  dozen  deer.  Hunting  was  not  to 
my  taste,  and  I  participated  only  seldom  in  it,  and  then  more 
for  the  sake  of  exercise  than  sport.  Riding  on  horseback  was 
my  favorite  recreation.  The  weather  was  mostly  very  beau- 
tiful, summer-like,  but  now  and  then  came  a  severe  spell  of 
storm  and  cold. 

About  this  time  I  had  finally  made  up  my  mind  to  follow 
the  law,  and  I  wrote  home  that  I  would  remain  on  the  farm 
until  spring,  and  then  either  visit  some  law  school,  or  read 
law  in  some  office  in  St.  Louis.  On  account  of  my  having  pre- 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  329 

pared  several  powers  of  attorney  and  other  legal  papers,  I 
had  to  go  to  Belleville  twice  to  consult  with  Adam  W.  Snyder, 
then  the  most  popular  attorney-at-law  in  that  place.  I  had 
been  introduced  to  him  before  by  Theo.  Hilgard,  Jr.  I  had 
asked  his  advice  merely  as  to  the  proper  officers  to  authenticate 
my  papers.  He  found,  however,  that  I  knew  as  much  as  he 
did  about  the  business,  and  seemed  somewhat  surprised  at  it. 
He  had  learned  in  some  way  that  I  intended  to  qualify  myself 
for  the  bar  and  encouraged  me  to  do  so.  He  seemed  to  take 
a  lively  interest  in  me.  When  I  mentioned  the  great  diffi- 
culties, particularly  the  mastering  of  the  language,  he  said: 
"Never  mind  —  You  speak  English  now  more  grammatically 
than  most  people  here.  If  you  go  into  a  law-office  for  a  year 
or  so,  and  keep  away  from  your  German  friends,  you  will  ac- 
quire the  sufficient  fluency.  Besides  you  speak  French  and 
we  have  a  large  French  population  in  the  river-counties  in  the 
American  Bottom.  There  were  also  some  German  settlements 
in  St.  Clair  County  on  Dutch  Hill  and  Turkey  Hill.  The  Ger- 
mans are  now  coming  in  shoals  to  St.  Louis,  and  many  of  them 
if  they  have  any  sense  will  settle  right  here  in  Illinois  in  the 
neighborhood  of  St.  Louis.  You  will  get  a  good  practice 
amongst  these  of  course." 

Mr.  Snyder  was  a  Pennsylvanian  of  German  parentage. 
He  could  speak  some  Pennsylvania  Dutch,  and  could  under- 
stand some  German  in  ordinary  affairs.  He  had  been  ap- 
prenticed to  the  milling  business  at  home,  and  had  come  quite 
young  to  Illinois  and  had  found  employment  as  a  miller  near 
Cahokia,  then  the  county-seat  of  St.  Clair,  where  the  judges 
and  officers  of  the  court,  attorneys  and  other  county  officers 
all  resided.  He  attracted  their  notice  by  his  sprightliness  and 
his  ready  good  humor,  and  he  was  advised  to  read  law,  which 
he  did,  and  commenced  practicing  there.  He  had  the  gift  of 
speaking  and  soon  acquired  the  reputation  of  being  a  good 
advocate.  He  had  married  in  1824  or  1825,  Adelaide  Perry, 
daughter  of  John  F.  Perry,  a  French  gentleman  from  Picardy, 
who  must  have  been  a  shrewd  business  man ;  for  at  his  death 


330  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

not  long  after  Mr.  Snyder's  marriage,  he  left  a  large  estate 
to  his  heirs.  Mr.  Snyder  had  picked  up  the  Creole  French, 
and  could  speak  it  to  some  extent,  and  he  understood  us  per- 
fectly well  when  we  addressed  him  in  the  French  language. 
He  was  tall  of  stature  and  strongly  built,  his  temperament 
gay  and  sanguine.  A  close  observer  of  human  nature,  he 
could  handle  nten  with  ease,  and,  being  full  of  wit  and  a  fine 
teller  of  anecdotes,  his  great  popularity  was  readily  accounted 
for. 

A  day  or  two  before  Christmas  I  went,  on  terribly  bad 
roads  and  in  a  disagreeable  drizzle  of  half  snow  and  half  rain, 
to  St.  Louis  to  buy  a  present  for  Sophie,  and  for  myself,  Black- 
stone 's  Commentaries  on  the  English  Law,  a  classic  book,  for 
which  I  paid  five  dollars. 

On  Christmas  day,  1833,  we  had  a  Christmas  tree,  of 
course.  In  our  immediate  neighborhood  we  had  no  evergreen 
trees  or  bushes.  But  Mr.  Engelmann  had  taken  the  top  of  a 
young  sassafras  tree,  which  still  had  some  leaves  on  it,  had 
fixed  it  into  a  kind  of  pedestal,  and  the  girls  had  dressed  the 
tree  with  ribbons  and  bits  of  colored  paper  and  the  like,  had 
put  wax  candles  on  the  branches,  and  had  hung  it  with  little 
red  apples  and  nuts  and  all  sorts  of  confectionery,  in  the 
making  of  which  Aunt  Caroline  was  most  proficient.  Perhaps 
this  was  the  first  Christmas  tree  that  was  ever  lighted  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi.  Yet  this  very  recollection  of  our 
still  dear  old  home,  put  many  of  us  in  mind  of  the  dear  rela- 
tives and  friends  we  had  left  behind  and  gave  rise  to  some 
rather  melancholy  reflections.  What  a  contrast  between  our 
present  life  and  the  one  we  had  enjoyed  in  the  Fatherland ! 

On  my  return  from  St.  Louis  on  the  evening  of  the  twen- 
ty-fourth, I  passed  through  Belleville  after  dark.  In  spite  of 
the  mud  in  the  streets  they  were  very  lively.  The  Americans 
celebrate  Christmas  in  their  own  way.  Young  and  old  fired 
muskets,  pistols  and  Chinese  fire-crackers,  which,  with  a  very 
liberal  consumption  of  egg-nog  and  tom-and-jerry,  was  the 
usual,  and  in  fact,  the  only  mode  of  hailing  the  arrival  of  the 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  331 

Christ-Child  (Christ-Kindchen,  corrupted  into  Christ-kinkle). 

In  the  first  part  of  January,  1834,  it  turned  terribly  cold ; 
the  thermometer  for  a  week  almost  showing  every  morning 
from  20  to  24  degrees  below  zero,  Reamur.  The  snow  was 
for  weeks  a  foot  or  more  deep.  Light  sleighs  were  constructed, 
and  we  had  very  fine  sleighing.  Having  no  cellars  to  speak 
of,  the  bread  froze  over  night,  and  had  to  be  thawed  out  by 
roasting  at  the  fireplace.  Crowding  around  the  chimney  was 
the  only  way  to  keep  warm.  The  walks  three  times  a  day  from 
the  upper  to  the  lower  farm  for  meals  were  a  severe  task.  I 
kept  a  good  fire  in  the  grate  chimney,  which  I  filled  with  a  tre- 
mendous back-log.  All  the  rails  which  were  not  wholly  sound, 
I  would  take  off  the  fences  for  firewood.  I  was  charged  with 
taking  good  rails  now  and  then ;  but  necessity  knows  no  law. 

During  Christmas  time  and  the  very  cold  weather  in 
January,  the  lessons  to  the  boys  were  interrupted.  But  in 
February  I  took  them  up  again.  The  rest  of  my  time  I  de- 
voted to  the  study  of  Blackstone,  and  to  the  constitutional  his- 
tory and  the  judicial  system  of  the  United  States.  From  my 
diary,  I  find  that  I  followed  very  closely  the  highly  interesting 
debates  of  the  Congress  which  commenced  its  sessions  in  1833. 
It  was  the  time  of  the  great  contest  against  Jackson  on  ac- 
count of  his  financial  policy,  particularly  against  his  opposi- 
tion to  the  National  Bank.  In  the  House,  Jackson  had  a  de- 
cided majority ;  in  the  Senate  was  the  opposition,  led  by  such 
men  as  Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun,  a  triumvirate  consisting  of 
really  very  incongruous  elements.  It  was  during  this  session 
that  the  opposition  of  Jackson  arrogated  to  itself  the  name  of 
Whigs,  dubbing  the  Jackson  men  with  the  name  of  Tories. 
This  last  appellation,  however,  did  not  stick,  and  the  old  name 
of  Democrats  was  retained.  Benton  and  Silas  Wright,  of  New 
York,  were  in  the  Senate  the  able  defenders  of  the  Democrats. 
I  was  at  first  inclined  to  think  that  Jackson  had  acted  rather 
arbitrarily  in  regard  to  the  bank.  I  had  read  only  the  "St. 
Louis  Republican,"  then  a  strong  Whig  paper,  but  when  I 
read  the  different  speeches  in  Congress  my  opinion  changed 


332  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

decidedly.  I  read  the  speeches  on  both  sides  very  carefully 
and  formed  my  opinion  from  them.  Respecting  other  ques- 
tions I  found  that  the  Democrats  had  far  more  liberal  views 
than  the  Whigs;  for  instance,  as  to  the  tariff  and  the  rights 
of  naturalized  citizens.  The  Whigs  in  the  main  represented 
the  money-power,  what  they  called  the  "Respectability;"  the 
Democrats,  the  interests  of  the  masses.  Under  these  impres- 
sions I  became  a  Democrat  and  have  remained  one  ever  since. 

POLISH  VISITORS 

The  number  of  visitors  that  came  to  us  from  St.  Louis  was 
very  great,  and  our  house  was,  particularly  on  Sundays,  filled 
with  our  neighbors.  At  the  upper  farm,  we  young  men  had 
many  an  Attic  night.  The  Rhine  wine  had  given  out,  but  a 
moderately  strong  grog  took  its  place.  The  company  being 
nearly  all  students,  our  favorite  songs  often  resounded  in  the 
old  house.  I  must  mention  a  rather  comical  visitor,  Major 
Clopike,  a  Pole.  There  had  arrived  in  1833  several  hundred 
Poles,  who,  entering  Austrian  territory,  after  the  fall  of  War- 
saw, and  being  disarmed  and  kept  there  under  surveillance, 
had  finally  been  shipped  by  the  Austrian  government,  (I  be- 
lieve in  a  vessel  of  the  American  navy,)  to  the  United  States. 
Congress  had  donated  to  them  several  thousand  acres  of  public 
lands,  not  yet  sold,  in  some  of  the  Western  States.  The 
Poles  had  appointed  a  committee  to  select  these  lands,  and  they 
had  chosen  a  fine  district  in  northern  Illinois  on  the  Rock 
River.  The  land  had  not  been  sold,  but  a  great  deal  of  it  was 
occupied  by  squatters,  who  resisted  with  might  and  main  the 
taking  up  of  this  land  by  the  Poles.  I  do  not  know  what  finally 
became  of  the  donation.  At  any  rate,  the  Poles  made  no  settle- 
ments there,  nor  anywhere  else.  Besides,  the  mere  land  was 
of  no  use  to  them.  Most  of  them  were  without  means  to  buy 
anything,  and  then  they  were  not  farmers,  but  young  men 
who  had  been  in  the  regular  army  of  Poland,  or  students,  or 
clerks. 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  333 

Clopike  was  one  of  these  commissioners,  and  had  now 
become  a  resident  of  St.  Louis,  where  he  had  established  a 
coffee-house.  He  was  a  very  tall,  imposing-looking  man  of 
more  than  fifty  years  of  age,  of  rather  handsome  and  martial 
features,  spoke  French  fluently  and  German  passably.  Being 
a  Pole,  he  was  very  warmly  received  by  the  Engelmanns  and 
by  sister  Charlotte,  whose  enthusiasm  for  Poland  and  the 
Poles  knew  no  bounds,  and  who  was  particularly  attentive 
to  him.  He  stayed  a  day  or  two,  and  shortly  afterwards 
made  his  appearance  again.  To  the  astonishment  of  the  fam- 
ily, he  took  Mr.  Engelmann  aside  and  asked  for  the  hand 
of  Charlotte.  Mr.  Ledergerber  had,  however,  already  shown 
much  attention  to  Charlotte,  and  she  had  appeared  to  recip- 
rocate his  suit.  I  believe  this  was  the  reason  she  refused  the 
offer  of  Clopike ;  yet,  although  his  proposal  seemed  to  us  pre- 
posterous, it  is  impossible  to  say  what  she  might  have  done; 
for  her  admiration  for  the  Poles  was  very  strong,  and,  as  she 
was  getting  to  be,  though  still  very  handsome  and  amiable, 
what  was  then  considered  an  old  maid,  we  feared  she  might 
have  consented  to  the  Major's  proposal.  Clopike  took  his 
rejection  quite  heroically,  and  did  not  lose  his  appetite,  or 
his  love  of  a  strong  glass  of  punch.  I  occasionally  patronized 
his  establishment  in  later  years  in  St.  Louis,  always  finding 
him  jovial  and  in  high  spirits,  and  having  a  very  reputable 
custom. 

The  spring  of  this  year  was  beautiful,  but  with  very 
sudden  changes.  In  the  absence  of  Doctor  George,  who,  from 
the  first  day  on  the  farm  had  been  keeping  a  record  of  the 
temperature,  I  performed  that  business  three  times  a  day. 
The  most  remarkable  meteorological  phenomena  I  noticed  in 
my  diary.  On  the  fourth  of  May  there  was  a  frost  so  heavy 
that  it  killed  all  the  fruit-blossoms  and  nearly  all  the  leaves 
of  the  forest  trees.  Within  twelve  hours  the  thermometer 
fell  frequently  from  ten  to  fifteen  degrees  Reamur.  At  one 
time  I  even  noticed  eighteen  degrees '  fall.  But  upon  the  whole, 
the  weather  was  delightful.  Late  in  the  fall  and  early  in 


334  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  spring,  the  heavens  were  lighted  up  almost  every  even- 
ing by  prairie  fires.  The  prairie  grass  at  that  time  fre- 
quently grew  to  be  three  or  four  feet  high  and  was  burnt 
up  for  a  new  growth.  The  largest  prairies  were  a  good  ways 
from  our  place;  nevertheless,  the  glare  of  the  fire  was  very 
distinctly  seen  by  us.  Richly  colored  flowers  filled  the  woods : 
dogwood,  redbud,  May  apples,  lady 's-slippers,  sweet-williams, 
flox,  some  kind  of  asclepias,  red  lilies,  helianthuses,  and  Vir- 
ginia creeper,  which  I  had  much  admired  in  the  botanical 
gardens  at  Frankfort.  The  large  white  and  orange  blossoms 
of  the  catalpas  at  the  upper  farm  were  beautiful  to  look  at, 
and  exhaled  a  very  sweet  smell. 

AN  ILLINOIS  COURT,   AND  POLITICS 

Towards  the  latter  part  of  May,  Theodore  and  I  rode  to 
Edwardsville,  the  county-seat  of  Madison  County,  where  the 
Circuit  Court  was  in  session.  We  found  fine  farms  and  rich 
prairies  on  the  way.  Edwardsville  had  but  one  street,  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  long.  Part  of  the  street  was  still  covered 
with  timber,  and  a  deer  passed  us  right  in  the  town. 

I  went  there  principally  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
practical  workings  of  administrative  justice.  My  diary  shows 
a  very  detailed  description  of  judge  and  jurors,  of  lawyers 
and  officers,  which,  though  highly  interesting  to  me  at  the 
time,  must  be  here  much  curtailed.  The  judge,  Theophilus 
W.  Smith,  was  an  excellent  lawyer  of  a  rather  stern  char- 
acter, and  of  very  imposing  appearance.  Some  very  dis- 
tinguished lawyers,  whom  I  did  not  know  as  such  then,  were 
practicing  at  the  bar,  amongst  them  being  David  J.  Baker, 
Judge  Sidney  Breese,  A.  W.  Snyder,  and  James  Semple. 
The  weather  was  very  hot ;  lawyers,  jurors  and  witnesses  were 
mostly  in  their  shirt-sleeves.  But  Judge  Smith  kept  the  house 
in  most  perfect  order.  The  first  day  the  court  adjourned  at 
noon,  giving  way  to  political  speech-making.  The  elections 
for  Governor,  for  Congress,  and  for  the  State  Legislature  were 
near;  State  elections  being  then  held  on  the  first  Monday  in 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  335 

August.  The  court,  as  well  as  the  political  meetings,  had 
attracted  an  immense  crowd  to  Edwardsville.  Everybody 
came  on  horseback.  The  horses  were  all  tied  up  to  racks 
around  the  public  square  or  to  trees,  the  street  being  full  of 
them.  It  looked  like  a  Cossack  camp. 

A.  "W.  Snyder  was  one  of  the  candidates  for  Congress 
from  the  southern  district  of  Illinois,  which  comprised  at 
that  time  one-third  of  the  State,  and  was  entitled  to  three  rep- 
resentatives in  the  lower  house  of  Congress.  John  Reynolds, 
then  Governor,  but  whose  term  expired  that  year,  was  the 
other  candidate.  Both  were  Democrats,  but  Snyder  took  a 
more  decided  stand  against  the  national  bank  and  the  high 
tariff,  sustaining  Jackson  through  thick  and  thin.  Reynolds, 
who  was  a  very  shrewd  and  cunning  politician,  not  over- 
burdened with  principles,  was  more  moderate,  and  in  the 
Whig  counties  affected  a  rather  milk-and-water  attitude  in 
his  speeches  in  order  to  get  the  Whig  support,  —  the  Whigs 
having  no  candidate  out. 

Snyder  opened  the  dance  in  a  very  fluent  and  plausible 
speech.  He  was  followed  by  Alexander  P.  Field,  a  Whig 
lately  converted,  who  was  really  a  most  eloquent  speaker. 
Field  was  more  than  six  feet  high,  of  a  dark  complexion,  and 
with  a  strong  and  very  melodious  voice,  ugly  features,  and  a 
sardonic  smile  playing  around  his  lips.  Though  differing  in 
politics,  we  became  at  a  later  day  in  traveling  on  the  circuit 
rather  warm  friends.  Reynolds  made  a  speech  in  the  evening. 
John  Reynolds  was  an  original.  He  had  received  a  pretty 
good  classical  education,  but  took  great  pains  to  disguise  it. 
Though  he  was  quite  familiar  with  English  literature,  he 
pretended  to  abhor  books.  He  wished  to  be  considered  one  of 
the  people,  and  used  intentionally  on  proper  occasions  the 
common  talk  of  the  backwoods  settlers.  Although,  judicial 
timber  being  very  scarce  in  the  earlier  days  of  our  State,  he 
had  for  some  years  been  one  of  the  supreme  judges,  he  was  no 
lawyer  when  I  knew  him,  nor  did  he  pretend  to  be;  yet  in 
certain  cases,  as  in  minor  criminal  offenses,  slander  and  assault 


336 

and  battery  cases,  he  was  a  very  successful  advocate.  He 
hardly  ever  charged  fees,  thereby  making  many  friends,  and 
he  had  an  eminent  faculty  of  making  himself  popular.  He 
doted  on  the  ' '  American  Eagle, ' '  advocated  the  annexation  of 
Canada  and  the  whole  of  British  Columbia,  and  was  preach- 
ing in  and  out  of  season  the  annexation  of  Cuba,  which  was 
formed,  he  contended,  from  the  deposits  of  our  great  western 
rivers  carried  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi.  His  speeches  were  in  part  grotesquely  pathetic, 
in  part  ludicrously  comical,  always  attracting  great  crowds. 
When  he  afterwards  served  for  two  or  three  sessions  in  Con- 
gress, he  astonished  that  body  to  the  utmost  by  his  home-spun 
pathos  and  his  amusing  sallies  of  humor.  "When  judge,  he 
had  once  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  death  on  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Green.  "Mr.  Green,"  he  remarked,  "the  jury  have 
found  you  guilty  of  murder,  and  the  law  compels  me  to  pro- 
"nounce  upon  you  the  sentence  of  death.  I  want  it  distinctly 
understood,  Mr.  Green,  that  it  was  the  jury  that  condemned 
you  and  not  I;  I  wish  you  would  have  your  friends  under- 
stand this  also.  If  you  have  any  choice  in  the  matter,  you 
may  tell  the  Court  when  it  will  best  suit  you  to  be  hung 
within  the  time  allowed  by  law."  Mr.  Green  very  coolly 
remarked  that  the  day  was  indifferent  to  him,  and  the  Court 
then  fixed  a  Friday  for  the  execution.  There  are  hundreds 
of  similar  ludicrous  anecdotes  still  in  the  mouths  of  old  set- 
tlers. Reynolds  was  in  later  years  the  author  of  a  very  inter- 
esting book,  sketching  his  life  and  times,  and  containing  some 
very  beautiful  passages  of  literary  worth.  At  one  time  very 
well  off,  he  lost  much  by  going  security  for  his  friends,  but 
still  left  a  handsome  property  to  his  second  wife,  a  cultivated 
lady  from  Washington  City.  Gov.  William  Kinney,  our  close 
neighbor,  who  was  then  Lieutenant-Governor,  was  a  candidate 
for  Governor,  but  I  do  not  think  that  he  was  then  at  Edwards- 
ville. 

For  four  days  I  closely  attended  the  sittings  of  the  court 
and  found  them  very  instructive.     Indeed,  I  learned  more 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  337 

about  the  practice  of  law  in  that  short  time  than  I  could  have 
learned  by  four  months'  study  of  a  book.  I  cannot,  however, 
withhold  here  a  thought  which  struck  me  almost  as  an  inspira- 
tion as  I  looked  at  the  learned  and  dignified  judge  sitting  on 
his  elevated  seat.  "I  will  be  at  your  place,  if  I  live,  old  fel- 
low, ' '  said  I  to  myself  nearly  half  aloud.  And  I  was,  in  little 
more  than  ten  years  from  that  time. 

In  the  middle  of  June,  summer  began  in  earnest.  We 
had  for  days  24  to  28  degrees  Reamur  in  the  shade,  and  in 
July  the  thermometer  rose  to  30  and  32,  and  one  day  to  34. 
We  had  also  many  thunder-storms.  Our  room,  however,  was 
very  large,  and  we  could  be  made  cool ;  so  that  I  pursued  my 
studies  pretty  closely,  reading,  with  great  delight,  Goethe, 
Washington  Irving,  Walter  Scott  and  files  of  German  papers, 
which  latter  almost  daily  arriving  immigrants  brought  along 
with  them. 

LOCAL  AND  FAMILY  REMINISCENCES 

Quite  early  in  the  year,  Theodore  Hilgard,  Jr.,  had 
returned  to  Speyer  to  bring  over  Emma  Heimberger,  to  whom 
he  was  engaged  before  he  left.  He  married  her  in  Germany 
and  arrived  here  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  accompanied  by  a 
younger  brother,  Frederick  Hilgard,  a  young  man  of  very 
amiable  character  and  a  model  of  manly  beauty.  This  was  a 
great  accession  to  our  German  settlement.  Emma  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  Sophie,  an  accomplished  and  most  fascin- 
ating lady,  and  a  good  musician.  From  the  time  of  her 
arrival,  the  Hilgard  place  became  another  center  for  our 
society  and  remained  so  for  a  long  series  of  years.  Theodore 
was  an  open-hearted,  frank,  honest,  good-natured  and  very 
hospitable  man,  whose  melancholy  end  no  one  had  the  least 
thought  of.  They  had  paid  a  visit  to  my  family  in  Frankfort 
and  brought  me  the  latest  news  and  kind  letters  from  them, 
quite  satisfactory  to  me.  A  chest  with  papers,  books  and 
other  useful  things,  they  had  brought  for  me  to  New  York, 
from  which  place  they  were  to  be  sent  to  St.  Louis,  by  way  of 
New  Orleans. 


338  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

About  the  same  time  we  received  news  that  the  family  of 
George  Bunsen,  forming  part  of  the  Giessen  Emigrant  Society, 
had  arrived  in  New  Orleans.  Dr.  Gustav  Bunsen  had  gone 
down  to  receive  them.  After  they  had  arrived  at  St.  Louis, 
I  went  on  an  appointed  day  to  Belleville,  to  which  place  they 
were  to  come  in  a  stage.  But  I  found  only  part  of  the  family ; 
the  father  and  mother  had  remained  in  St.  Louis  watching  a 
dying  child.  They  looked  very  bad.  The  plan  to  settle  in 
Arkansas  Territory  had  been  given  up  even  before  they  landed 
in  New  Orleans.  A  considerable  part  of  the  Society,  amongst 
whom  were  the  Bunsens  and  Berchelmann 's  sister,  who  was 
married  to  Doctor  Bunsen  upon  her  arrival,  had  seceded  and 
come  up  of  their  own  accord  to  us,  becoming  thus  involved 
in  a  host  of  troubles  in  settling  up  with  the  other  members. 
It  may  here  be  remarked  that  the  other  fraction  of  the  Society 
which  had  come  by  way  of  New  York,  not  long  after  also 
arrived  in  St.  Louis  and  also  broke  up.  So  this  well  organized 
company,  led  by  men  of  the  highest  character,  had  become  a 
wreck,  as  all  of  us  here  had  predicted.  The  letters  Bunsen 
brought  were  old,  but  nevertheless  very  welcome.  The  latest 
letters  I  had  were  from  Kohloff  and  Savoye  at  Paris,  highly 
interesting.  Savoye  suggested  to  me  to  write  a  critique  of 
Duden's  book  and  correct  its  errors.  He  did  not  know  then 
that  I  had  anticipated  his  wish. 

Savoye  established  himself  firmly  in  Paris  as  a  literary 
writer  and  a  journalist,  became  a  member  of  the  Legislative 
Chamber  after  the  revolution  of  1848,  and  was  banished  from 
France  by  Louis  Napoleon  after  the  coup  d'etat.  Kohloff  also 
lived  in  Paris  as  a  correspondent  to  German  papers,  devoting 
himself  to  the  discussion  of  literature  and  the  fine  arts  gen- 
erally. 

Shortly  afterwards,  the  older  Bunsens  arrived  in  St.  Clair, 
having  buried  their  youngest  child  at  St.  Louis.  They  took 
up  a  temporary  abode,  but  not  long  afterwards  bought  a  fine 
farm  about  two  miles  and  a  half  east  of  the  Engelmann  place. 
This  numerous  and  intelligent  family  was  quite  an  addition  to 


339 

our  settlement.  George  Bunsen,  as  instructor  and  superinten- 
dent of  the  public  schools  of  St.  Clair  County,  in  later  years 
acquired  a  high  reputation  all  over  the  state,  becoming  in 
1848  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention.  George 
Bunsen 's  family  many  years  later  moved  to  Belleville,  joining 
Doctor  Berchelmann,  who  had  married  Louisa,  one  of  the 
daughters.  During  the  summer,  Mr.  Engelmann  prepared  the 
ground  right  south  of  the  house,  on  a  gentle  southward  slope, 
for  a  vineyard.  It  was  hard  labor  in  the  hot  season,  as  the 
plowing  had  to  be  very  deep  and  the  subsoil  was  very  hard 
clay. 

I  may  anticipate  here  and  say  that  the  raising  of  grapes 
from  the  roots  brought  from  the  Rhine  was  a  failure.  Ca- 
tawba  was  the  best  grape  to  plant,  and  was  raised  together 
with  the  Virginia  Seedling.  The  area  of  the  vineyard  was  con- 
stantly enlarged,  and  the  Engelmann  products  soon  obtained 
a  great  reputation  in  the  county.  The  raising  of  grapes  for 
sale  and  for  making  wine,  and  the  most  excellent  fruit,  the 
product  of  the  orchard,  to  all  of  which  Mr.  Engelmann  devoted 
himself  by  intelligent  and  indefatigable  labor,  became  the 
main  source  of  profit  of  the  farm. 

Hunting  horses,  making  trips  to  Lebanon,  Belleville, 
and  Nashville  in  Washington  County  to  transact  business  for 
Mr.  Engelmann,  kept  me  a  good  deal  of  my  time  in  the  saddle. 
Sophie  was  also  very  fond  of  riding  on  horseback,  and  we  vis- 
ited much  in  the  neighborhood.  Sometimes,  when  there  was 
lack  of  horses  or  of  ladies'  saddles,  we  went  a  I'Americaine, 
she  sitting  behind  me  on  a  cushion  and  holding  fast  by  my 
waist. 

In  memory  of  General  Lafayette's  death,  we  heard  the 
thundering  of  cannon  from  Jefferson  Barracks  on  the  first 
of  July.  President  Jackson  issued  a  message  to  Congress 
announcing  the  event.  Congress  passed  resolutions  of  sym- 
pathy. John  Quincy  Adams  delivered  a  most  excellent 
funeral  oration;  the  members  wore  crape  for  thirty  days, 
and  all  citizens  were  requested  to  do  likewise.  Army  and 


340  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

navy  officers  were  directed  to  do  the  same,  and  on  all  public 
vessels  and  in  all  forts  the  flags  were  at  half  mast ;  on  the  first 
of  July  in  the  morning  and  evening  guns  were  fired  at  all 
forts.  This  demonstration  was  worthy  of  the  man  and  of 
the  American  people. 

We  performed  in  July  a  new  and  curious  occupation, 
namely,  the  threshing  of  wheat  and  oats  by  horses'  hoofs.  The 
sheafs  were  laid  in  a  large  circle  in  layers,  and  we  young 
folks  on  horseback  rode  slowly  over  the  layers  on  the  heads  of 
the  sheafs,  tramping  out  the  kernels.  New  layers  were  laid 
and  so  we  went  on  for  hours.  It  was  like  circus-riding.  The 
most  disagreeable  part  of  it  was  the  dust,  which  almost  choked 
us.  This  was  one  of  the  few  farm-labors  I  performed  in 
America. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  August,  1834,  the  marriage  of 
Charlotte  and  Joseph  Ledergerber  took  place.  There  was  a 
large  company,  and  a  splendid  dinner  was  served  under  a  sort 
of  a  tent  on  the  lawn  at  the  lower  farm.  The  ceremony,  per- 
formed by  a  neighboring  justice-of-the-peace,  lasted  about  two 
minutes.  Bunsen  and  Hilgard  had  brought  along  a  large 
quantity  of  Rhine  wine,  and  we  had  some  of  it  at  the  marriage 
feast. 

Mr.  Ledergerber  had  been  brought  up  by  his  father,  a  man 
of  considerable  means,  for  the  mercantile  business ;  but  he  did 
not  seem  to  like  it,  and  obtained  by  purchase  a  lieutenancy  in 
the  Swiss  guards  stationed  at  Versailles.  The  revolution  of 
July  made  an  end  of  Charles  the  Tenth's  reign,  and  of  the 
Swiss  guards,  too.  So  he  returned  home,  resolved  to  emigrate, 
prepared  himself  for  farm-work,  arrived  here  early  in  1833, 
and,  having  carefully  explored  portions  of  Missouri  and  Illi- 
nois, bought  the  large  farm  of  which  I  have  already  spoken. 
He  was  of  medium  size,  had  blond  hair,  blue  eyes,  a  clear  com- 
plexion, and  was  very  good-looking.  He  was  a  most  active  and 
energetic  man,  increased  his  farm  by  additional  purchases, 
built  a  good  barn  and  outhouses,  imported  choice  fruit  trees, 
kept  good  horses,  and  was  the  first  in  that  part  of  Illinois  who 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  341 

imported  Norman  horses.  Fond  of  hunting,  he  kept  later  on 
a  fine  set  of  hounds.  He  was  reported  to  be  somewhat  close 
and  also  high-tempered  and  as  treating  his  farm  hands  rather 
harshly.  I  myself  found  him  liberal  in  money  matters  and 
very  agreeable  in  company.  He  and  Charlotte  kept  a  most 
hospitable  house.  It  was  almost  constantly  full  of  visitors, 
particularly  Swiss,  who  stayed  for  weeks  and  months.  The 
children  of  all  the  branches  of  the  Engelmann  family  loved  to 
be  out  at  Uncle  Ledergerber 's.  He  was  very  fond  of  children, 
and  his  own  —  two  boys  and  one  girl  —  were  sprightly  and 
intelligent.  He  hated  idleness,  and  himself  set  the  example  of 
hard  working,  so  that  it  is  very  likely  that  he  should  have  been 
sometimes  too  exacting. 

Charlotte  was  the  kindest  of  women,  but  too  delicately 
built  for  a  farmer's  wife.  Naturally  of  the  greatest  sensi- 
bility, she  fell  into  a  kind  of  a  half  liberal,  half  mystic  Cath- 
olicism, principally  by  the  reading  of  "Paroles  d'un  Croyant" 
by  Father  Lacordaire,  a  book  which  was  then  creating  a  great 
sensation.  Her  ideas  became  somewhat  confused,  her  reason- 
ing powers  had  never  been  strong,  her  heart  was  in  her  head. 
Her  conversations  were  illogical  and  incoherent.  In  the 
course  of  time,  her  relations  to  her  husband,  who  was  a  matter- 
of-fact  man,  became  somewhat  strained;  neither  of  them  felt 
happy,  though  there  was  no  sign  of  disagreement  outside  of 
the  family.  Charlotte  remained,  until  her  death  in  1857,  the 
same  gentle  and  effusive  woman. 

About  this  time  the  news  came  that  a  Pro-Slavery  crowd 
in  the  East  had  mobbed  a  building  in  which  the  Anti-Slavery 
party  had  held  or  were  about  to  hold  meetings,  and  burnt  it 
down.  This  outrage  in  the  land  of  free  speech  pained  and 
irritated  us  much.  I  made  the  following  entry  in  my  diary : 
"Negro  slavery  is  the  only  rope  by  which  the  devil  holds  the 
American  people.  The  descendants  must  now  suffer  for  the 
greediness  of  their  ancestors.  This  national  debt  is  more 
oppressive  and  dangerous  than  the  English  one. ' ' 


342  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

New  emigrants,  mostly  from  Altenburg,  who  belonged  to 
the  second  group  of  the  Giessen  Society,  but  who  had  left  it, 
arrived  every  day  in  our  settlement.  They  were  a  very  good- 
natured  and  jovial  set  of  people,  and  were  very  frugal  and 
industrious.  Some  of  them  knew  some  of  my  Altenburg 
friends.  William  Weber,  they  told  me,  was  in  prison  in 
Leipsic. 

On  the  ninth  of  September  we  held  the  first  German 
picnic  on  a  hill  under  large  shade  trees  near  the  upper  farm. 
Some  forty  persons  enjoyed  themselves  greatly,  eating,  drink- 
ing, singing  and  playing  games.  It  was  the  precursor  of 
many  others  in  the  same  neighborhood.  Of  course,  the  num- 
ber of  attendants  always  increased,  and  there  were  often 
several  hundred  people  present  from  Belleville  and  even  from 
St.  Louis.  Germanized  Americans  also  came  to  look  on  and  to 
participate,  though  the  picnics  were  always  held  on  a  Sun- 
day. Singing  clubs  and  amateur  bands  of  music  were  often 
present,  and  the  picnics  assumed  by  and  by  the  shape  of  real 
popular  festivals  —  Volksfeste.  After  the  lapse  of  about  ten 
years  they  came  to  be  attended  by  some  undesirable  elements, 
and  afterwards  these  public  picnics  gave  place  to  private  ones. 

On  the  first  Monday  in  August  we  went  to  the  election 
at  Belleville.  Under  the  Constitution  of  Illinois,  as  it  then 
stood,  any  one  who  had  resided  six  months  in  the  State,  if  a 
white  male  person  over  the  age  of  twenty-one,  was  entitled  to 
vote  in  all  elections,  State  and  National.  Nearly  all  the  Ger- 
mans were  for  Snyder  for  Congress  and  for  Kinney  for  Gov- 
ernor. Our  American  neighbors,  being  mostly  Methodists, 
opposed  them.  Mr.  Engelmann,  Theodore,  Ludwig,  John 
Scheel,  Ruppelius,  and  I  rode  first  to  Hilgard's  in  the  morning, 
where  we  were  reinforced  by  Theodore  and  Edward  Hilgard, 
Theodore  Kraft  and  Gustave  Heimberger  and  some  German 
neighbors.  We  formed  quite  a  cavalcade  riding  into  Belle- 
ville. Snyder  and  Kinney  obtained  majorities  in  St.  Clair 
and  the  adjoining  counties,  but  were  beaten  in  the  more  south- 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  343 

era  and  eastern  counties  by  the  less  uncompromising  Demo- 
crats.    Reynolds  went  to  Congress. 

A   METHODIST   CAMP-MEETING 

In  September  we  had  quite  an  excitement  in  our  imme- 
diate neighborhood,  —  a  Methodist  camp-meeting  at  Shiloh, 
lasting  several  days.  One  night  we  went  there  with  the  girls. 
The  camp-ground  round  the  meeting  house  was  covered  with 
tents,  booths  and  covered  wagons,  in  which  some  fifty  families 
were  lodged  with  all  kinds  of  house  and  kitchen  furniture. 
Several  hundred  persons  were  there  as  mere  spectators.  Fires 
were  burning  before  the  tents  and  shanties.  A  thick  forest 
surrounded  the  camp-ground.  In  the  meeting  house  one 
preacher  held  forth  in  a  frantic  way.  In  my  diary  I  have 
given  an  analysis  of  his  sermon,  if  his  harangue  can  be  so 
called.  After  painting  hell  and  its  tortures  in  the  most  vivid 
colors,  he  invited  the  sinners  to  come  forward  to  the  anxious 
seat.  Some  women  did  come,  mostly  negroes,  and  they  howled 
like  mad ;  but  the  preacher 's  voice  was  still  heard  calling  upon 
the  Lord,  and  so  forth.  The  most  ridiculous  thing  was  his 
calling  for  a  vote.  "Is  anyone  here  opposed  to  the  Lord? 
Let  us  take  a  vote ;  Those  who  are  for  the  Lord,  will  hold  up 
their  hands ! "  Of  course,  most  hands  went  up.  ' '  Those  who 
are  against  Him  will  hold  up  their  hands!"  Of  course, 
nobody  did.  There  was  howling  in  every  corner  of  the  build- 
ing; women  cried;  one  negro  woman  repeatedly  jumped  up 
several  feet  high,  and  finally  fell  down.  Some  of  the  con- 
verted also  commenced  preaching  from  the  anxious  bench. 
Some  tried  to  sing  hymns  at  the  same  time.  It  was  what  the 
Germans  would  call  a  "  HoellenspektakeF ' — a  hellish  noise. 
But  there  was  also  some  praying  and  preaching  in  some  of  the 
larger  tents.  A  good  many  spectators  were  laughing  and 
cracking  jokes,  others  courted  the  girls  in  the  tents  and  booths. 

We  were  of  course  interested  and  disgusted  by  this 
strange  and  weird  scene;  it  reminded  us  of  similar  night- 
meetings  so  graphically  described  among  Walter  Scott's  Cov- 


344  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

enanters.  But  the  strangest  thing  was  that,  barring  some 
exceptional  cases  of  insanity,  springing  from  these  exercises, 
we  would  see  the  same  people  who  were  raving  mad  the  night 
before,  engaged  in  the  most  sober,  calculating,  matter-of-fact 
business  the  next  morning. 

DEPARTURE  FOR  KENTUCKY 

It  was  now  time  to  think  of  preparations  for  my  depart- 
ure to  Lexington,  Kentucky,  which  for  several  reasons  I  had 
selected  as  the  place  to  pursue  my  legal  studies.  The  Uni- 
versity there,  called  Transylvania  University,  had  a  great 
reputation  as  a  medical  school.  The  law  school  was  not  much 
attended,  nor  were  any  law  schools  at  that  time,  even  the  one 
at  Cambridge.  A  few  years  of  law-study  in  the  office  of  a 
respectable  attorney  and  counselor-at-law  were  all  that  was 
required  to  entitle  one  to  take  a  more  or  less  rigid  State's 
examination,  which,  when  passed,  gave  one  a  license  to  prac- 
tice law.  Attending  law  school  was  rather  a  more  expensive 
mode  and  did  not  dispense  with  the  State 's  examination ;  law- 
students  in  the  German  sense  were  rather  an  exception. 

I  had  at  last  received,  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  two  large 
boxes,  containing  a  selection  of  books,  files  of  newspapers, 
pamphlets,  clothing  and  linen,  lamps  and  many  other  useful 
and  valuable  things,  presents  to  Sophie  and  to  other  members 
of  the  family  and  to  me,  worked  by  my  dear  mother  and  sis- 
ters. Receiving  these  tender  tokens  of  their  undying  affec- 
tion, I  felt  deeply  moved.  I  was  conscious  that  I  did  not  half 
deserve  this  attachment.  My  intentions  had  often  been  very 
good,  but  I  had  often  failed  in  carrying  them  out.  I  had,  on 
trying  occasions,  acted  against  their  wishes,  and  had  at  last 
inflicted  upon  them  excruciating  pains.  I  was  by  no  means 
the  ideal  man  they  seemed  to  have  always  considered  me. 
From  gentlemen  lately  arrived,  who  came  to  visit  us,  I  re- 
ceived the  welcome  news  that  my  dear  friend  William  Weber 
from  Altenburg  had  escaped  from  prison  in  Leipsic  and  would 
undoubtedly  soon  come  over.  The  first  weeks  in  October,  I 


FIRST  YEAR  IN  AMERICA  345 

was  busy  in  paying  farewell  visits  and  preparing  myself  to 
go  to  Lexington.  The  evening  before  my  departure  a  great 
many  of  my  friends  came  to  bid  me  farewell,  the  Hilgards, 
Bunsens,  Neuhoff  and  Berchelmann.  We  remained  together 
until  about  midnight.  Next  morning,  my  diary  says,  "About 
nine  o'clock  I  left  the  place  where  I  had  for  a  year  past  ex- 
perienced so  many  sad  but  far  more  happy  hours.  I  could 
hardly  overcome  my  feelings.  It  was  easier  to  leave  friends 
and  Fatherland  than  to  leave  Sophie."  My  parting  gift  was 
a  collection  of  my  desultory  poetry  bearing  a  poetical  dedica- 
tion entitled  "To  Sophie  at  Parting." 


CHAPTER  XV 

Studying  Law  in  Lexington 

The  same  evening  I  went  on  board  a  Louisville  boat.  The 
river  being  low,  we  ran  several  times  on  sand-bars,  and  it 
sometimes  took  hours  before  we  got  off.  We  had  a  slow  trip 
and  did  not  reach  Louisville  until  the  sixth  day  after  we  had 
left  St.  Louis.  I  stopped  at  the  Louisville  Hotel,  at  that  time 
one  of  the  best  and  finest  in  the  United  States.  It  contained 
splendidly  decorated  parlors,  an  immense  hall  for  general 
conversation,  reading  rooms  and  elegant  bedrooms.  There 
were  two  hundred  persons  at  dinner,  which  was  extravagantly 
good.  More  than  twenty  negroes  served  us.  What  astonished 
me  most  was  that  the  majority  of  the  guests  got  through  this 
rich  feast  in  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  that  only  a  few 
persons  ordered  wine,  mostly  Madeira  and  champagne. 

At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  I  was  awakened,  and  I 
mounted  the  stage  for  Lexington.  We  passed  through  Shelby- 
ville,  a  pretty  place,  a  little  distance  from  which  I  might  have 
ended  my  journey  and  my  life  too.  Our  stage  was  going 
down  a  pretty  steep  hill,  when  it  encountered  a  cow  and  ran 
over  it.  The  horses  took  fright,  jumped  off  the  road,  and  be- 
gan running.  But  a  stout  young  man  who  occupied  a  seat 
on  the  top  of  the  stage  had  jumped  off  before  the  horses  had 
broken  into  a  full  gallop,  and  grasped  the  bridle  of  one  of  the 
leaders.  The  driver  succeeded  in  bringing  the  horses  into  the 
road  again,  and  they  made  the  bridge  spanning  a  high-banked 
creek  at  full  gallop.  By  the  time  we  reached  the  top  of  the 
hill  on  the  other  side  he  had  gained  control  of  the  horses 
again.  Had  they  pursued  their  first  course,  we  should  un- 
doubtedly have  been  wrecked  in  the  creek.  The  stage  was 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  347 

stopped  until  our  brave  fellow-passenger  came  up,  to  whom 
we  all  expressed  our  hearty  thanks. 

We  dined  at  Frankfort,  the  capital  of  Kentucky.  It  has 
a  very  romantic  situation  on  the  hills  bordering  the  Kentucky 
Eiver.  It  contains  some  very  fine  buildings;  the  capitol  be- 
ing built  of  fine  marble.  Some  miles  south  of  Frankfort  we 
reached  the  railroad,  which  was  to  connect  Frankfort  and 
Lexington,  but  was  not  then  finished.  A  lightly  built  car  was 
drawn  on  it  by  horses  which  were  changed  every  eight  miles. 
They  were  fine  animals,  fast-blooded  trotters,  and  easily 
made  ten  miles  an  hour.  The  country  between  Lexington  and 
Frankfort,  according  to  American  notions,  is  a  very  beautiful 
one.  The  country  is  undulating  and  fertile,  and  excellent 
farms  line  the  highways.  The  houses,  often  very  large  and 
villa-like,  stand  back  in  fine  lawns  and  are  surrounded  by 
majestic  shade-trees.  Fields  and  large  blue  grass  pastures 
vary  with  large  forests,  mostly  of  beech  trees,  which  reminded 
me  much  of  the  woods  in  Germany.  I  saw  no  ox-teams.  The 
farmers  used  horses  exclusively,  and  a  noble  breed  they  were, 
too.  In  the  evening  we  reached  Lexington.  In  a  letter  writ- 
fen  to  Sophie  a  few  days  after  my  arrival  I  speak  of  this 
"Athens  of  Kentucky"  in  the  following  strain: 

"Lexington  is  a  lively,  handsome  city,  built  on  wave- 
like  hills  surmounted  by  beautiful  villas.  The  streets  are 
nearly  all  lined  with  shade-trees.  No  wonder  that  the  inhab- 
itants are  very  proud  of  it!  My  American  guide-book  calls 
it  perhaps  the  finest  spot  on  the  globe.  Of  course,  I  cannot 
subscribe  to  this  panegyric.  But  I  am  quite  pleased  with  the 
place.  It  is  the  richest  city  in  Kentucky,  and  hence  there  is 
much  show  and  luxury  here.  I  have  been  in  several  houses 
and  must  confess  that  with  us  —  in  Frankfort-on-the-Main  — 
the  wealthiest  people  do  not  live  as  elegantly  and  comfortably. 

' '  The  house  in  which  I  board  is  a  very  fine  one.  It  must 
be  charming  in  summer-time.  A  large  and  fine  lawn,  with  the 
most  splendid  trees,  encircles  it.  The  house  is  very  well  or- 
dered and  has  large  rooms;  my  room  being  as  large  as  the 
entire  old  farm-house.  The  'donna'  of  the  house  is  an  elderly 
widow,  Mrs.  Boggs,  who  has  several  children,  among  whom  is 
a  quite  agreeable  daughter.  We  live  in  a  very  refined  style 


348  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENER 

here.  You  may  imagine,  my  dear  child,  what  a  contrast  this 
is  from  the  life  of  last  year.  I  was  then  at  my  ease,  free  as 
a  bird  in  the  air.  Now  I  have  my  best  clothes  on,  yet  am  not 
nearly  as  well  dressed  as  my  fellow-boarders  and  visitors. 
Everything  is  conventional,  and  one  has  always  to  be  on  one's 
guard.  I  am  as  yet  a  stranger  to  all,  and  they  look  upon  me 
in  this  after-all  provincial  town  with  much  curiosity,  and  I 
cannot  very  readily  make  myself  understood.  It  is  not  a 
very  agreeable  situation,  but  it  must  be  borne.  I  must  enter 
thoroughly  into  this  American  life;  for  otherwise  I  have  no 
hopes  for  the  future  with  this  people,  so  much  prejudiced  for 
their  country  and  their  manners.  Thus  far,  I  have  made  the 
acquaintance  of  but  one  German,  Lutz,  a  professor  of  math- 
ematics at  the  University,  who  is  very  highly  respected  by 
the  Americans.  He  is  a  perfect  American,  or  at  least  wants 
to  be  such,  though  his  German  character  pops  out  very  often. 
He  was  in  former  times  a  member  of  the  Burschenschaft  at 
Goettingen,  is  a  first-rate  fencer,  and  I  have  practiced  with 
him  several  times.  Thus  far  he  pleases  me  much.  I  made 
his  acquaintance  in  a  singular  manner.  I  visited  by  accident 
merely  the  celebrated  orator  and  statesman  Henry  Clay,  and 
he  called  my  attention  to  him.  The  details  of  this  interview 
I  will  give  you  after  awhile.  I  will  say  this  much,  however, 
that  he,  Clay,  asked  me  to  visit  him  while  he  was  yet  here  — 
at  the  end  of  the  month  he  was  to  go  to  Washington  —  and 
that  he  offered  me  his  advice  and  assistance  if  I  needed  any." 

I  may  add  here  that  Lexington  at  that  time  contained 
very  many  beautiful  public  and  private  buildings.  The  Uni- 
versity was  a  very  lofty  and  splendid  edifice  of  white  stone 
in  the  Grecian  style,  standing  on  an  eminence  from  which 
you  had  a  splendid  view  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country, 
—  quite  a  contrast  to  our  University  buildings  in  Germany  at 
the  time  I  left,  as  these  were  generally  old  cloisters  converted 
into  seminaries  of  learning.  Mrs.  Boggs  was  a  perfect  lady, 
the  widow  of  a  politician  who  had,  as  most  of  them  do,  died 
poor,  so  that  his  widow  had  to  adopt  keeping  a  first-class 
boarding-house,  the  common  lot  of  ladies  of  that  class  in  the 
United  States.  Her  son  at  the  time  was  the  Governor  of  Mis- 
souri. 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  349 

A  VISIT  TO  HENRY  CLAY 

Regarding  my  visit  to  Mr.  Clay,  it  happened  in  this  wise : 
One  of  my  fellow-travellers  in  the  boat  and  on  the  stage,  a 
drummer  in  jewelry  from  New  York,  invited  me  one  morning, 
while  I  was  yet  at  the  Hotel  Phoenix,  to  take  a  walk.  "Let 
us  go  and  take  a  look  at  Mr.  Clay's  place,  Ashland."  I  did 
not  object.  We  went  about  a  mile  on  a  fine  turnpike  road,  — 
I  believe,  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  —  and  came  upon  a 
fine  park  in  the  midst  of  which  stood  a  tolerably  large,  white 
mansion-house.  My  companion  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer 
of  Mr.  Clay,  and  said :  ' '  Being  so  near,  let  us  have  a  look  at 
the  great  man. ' '  I  remonstrated  somewhat,  as,  according  to  my 
European  notions,  I  thought  it  rather  unbecoming  to  call 
upon  any  gentleman,  without  having  some  special  business 
with  him  or  an  introduction.  "O,  never  mind,"  replied  my 
friend,  "he  is  a  public  man,  and  anyone  has  a  right  to  call 
upon  him."  So  we  went  in,  rang  the  bell,  and  a  negro  servant 
showed  us  into  a  large  semi-oval  room,  richly  furnished,  the 
walls  being  decorated  with  some  fine  portraits  in  oil.  What 
attracted  me  most  was  a  large  set  of  silver  plate,  amongst 
which  was  a  very  large,  finely  chiseled  pitcher  with  an  in- 
scription on  it,  which  stood  on  a  beautifully  carved  side- 
board. 

After  a  few  minutes  Mr.  Clay  came  in.  A  very  long 
frock-coat  made  him  look  even  taller  than  he  was.  His  face 
was  very  long,  and  his  mouth  uncommonly  large.  He  had 
very  light  blue  eyes,  which  he  kept  half  closed  when  he  spoke. 
His  hair  was  thin  and  of  a  reddish  color.  There  was  a  playful 
humor  about  his  lips.  His  appearance  upon  the  whole  was  not 
at  first  prepossessing ;  but  when  you  heard  him  converse,  you 
felt  you  were  under  the  influence  of  a  great  and  good  man. 
We  shook  hands  with  him,  and  seated  ourselves.  After  in- 
quiring from  where  we  came,  he  spoke  of  Illinois,  of  which 
he  seemed  to  have  very  little  knowledge.  My  New  York 
friend,  I  thought,  improperly  entered  into  politics  and  the 


350  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

prospects  of  the  New  York  State  election,  which  was  then  very- 
near  at  hand  and  was  very  anxiously  watched  by  both  parties, 
asking  whether  it  would  sustain  Jackson  in  his  financial  pol- 
icy or  not.  I  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  engage  in  these 
speculations.  He  paid  me  a  very  unmerited  compliment  on 
my  English,  and  launched  into  a  eulogy  of  the  Germans,  so 
usual  to  politicians  before  election.  ' '  The  Germans, ' '  he  said, 
"are  very  honest  people,  fine  farmers,  and  very  industrious. 
I  consider  them  a  blessing  to  the  country  in  which  they  settle. 
The  only  thing  I  do  not  like  "  —  he  added  quite  in  good  humor 
—  "is  their  politics." 

Now  being  his  guest,  (I  must  not  forget  that  soon  after 
we  had  sat  down  a  black  servant  had  come  in  and  presented 
us  on  a  silver  waiter  three  glasses  of  Madeira  of  an  excellem 
quality,  which  we  emptied,  bowing  to  one  another,)  I  did  not 
think  it  in  good  taste  to  defend  the  Democrats  against  the 
principal  champion  of  the  Whigs,  whose  whole  soul,  too,  at 
this  time  was  in  the  question.  Without  giving  my  own  views, 
I  merely  stated  that  the  Germans  were  not  then  used  to  paper 
money  (1834)  in  their  own  country,  distrusted  all  banks,  and, 
besides,  having  been  oppressed  by  their  governments  and  their 
nobility,  were  attracted  by  the  very  name  of  Democracy.  As 
Mr.  Clay  was  a  great  diplomatist,  I  thought  I  would  try  a 
little  diplomacy  myself.  At  any  rate  we  parted  in  a  very 
friendly  manner.  He  asked  me,  apparently  with  warmth,  to 
repeat  my  call,  offering  to  serve  me  in  any  way  he  could.  He 
complimented  me  on  my  undertaking  to  pursue  my  profession 
in  this  country,  and  thought  he  could  prophesy  success  for  me. 

Of  course,  Mr.  Clay  showed  that  he  had  been  living  in 
the  best  society  here  and  in  Europe.  He  knew  how  to  draw 
people  into  conversation  and  to  say  something  pleasant  to 
everyone  without  appearing  to  flatter.  He  took  snuff,  which 
is  quite  uncommon  here,  and  handled  his  snuff-box  quite  diplo- 
matically. Seeing  that  our  eyes  had  been  repeatedly  fixed 
on  the  exquisite  silver  plate,  he  showed  us  the  pitcher.  The 
inscription  on  it  proved  that  it  was  a  present  from  some  of 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  351 

the  South  American  countries,  whose  right  to  recognition  as  in- 
dependent States,  when  they  revolted  from  Spain,  he  had  so 
eloquently  advocated  in  the  halls  of  the  Senate. 

I  must  say  that  this  interview  with  Mr.  Clay  was  of  great 
interest  to  me  and  I  could  not  but  laughingly  assent  to  the 
commercial  remark  my  drummer  friend  made  when  we  left 
Ashland,  ' '  I  would  not  take  ten  dollars  for  that  visit. ' ' 

PROFESSIONAL  AND  SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  LEXINGTON 

On  leaving  Belleville,  Mr.  Snyder,  who  had  been  captain 
of  a  volunteer  company  of  cavalry  in  the  Black  Hawk  War 
of  1832,  had  very  kindly  given  me  a  general  letter  of  intro- 
duction, "To  whom  it  may  concern,"  signed  by  him,  by  Al- 
fred Cowles,  a  respectable  elderly  lawyer,  by  Mitchell,  the 
postmaster,  and  others.  Dr.  Sheppard,  a  young,  but  by  far 
the  most  successful,  physician  in  Belleville,  who  had  been  a 
student  at  Lexington  and  had  become  well  acquainted  with 
Judge  Mays,  the  professor  of  common  law,  had  given  me 
also  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  latter. 

I  may  here  say  something  of  Dr.  Sheppard,  for  I  became 
very  well  acquainted  with  him  after  my  return.  He  was  a 
Southerner  by  birth,  somewhat  haughty  and  high-tempered, 
but  a  gentleman  in  every  respect.  He  did  not  care  about 
money,  and  when  he  had  something  very  interesting  to  read 
or  felt  like  resting,  he  locked  himself  up  in  his  office  so  that 
he  could  not  be  disturbed.  "Nobody  will  suffer,"  he  said, 
"for  there  are  other  fellows  enough  here  who  are  anxious  to 
get  practice."  When  Texas  revolted  against  Mexico,  he  at 
once  went  there  and  volunteered  in  the  army.  Some  time 
after  Texas  had  become  the  Lone  Star  State,  we  learned  that 
he  had  become  Secretary  of  the  Navy  of  the  new  government. 
As  Texas  had  not  a  single  ship  afloat,  the  office  must  have 
suited  my  indolent  friend  admirably  well. 

Professor  Mays  received  me  very  cordially.  He  lived  in 
a  very  fine  house.  He  was  an  elderly  man,  pretty  much  broken 
down  in  health,  and  quite  talkative.  He  told  me  his  history 


352  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

and  how  lie  had  become  a  lawyer;  that  he  had  received  no 
classical  education,  and  did  not  pretend  to  be  a  scholar.  But 
Clay  had  also  commenced  life  as  a  clerk  in  a  country  store. 
He  went  on  to  tell  that  the  law  school  here  was  not  what  it 
should  be,  that  but  few  gentlemen  had  money  enough  to  at- 
tend a  law  school,  that  they  studied  law  in  lawyers'  offices, 
that,  of  course,  thirty  or  forty  students  could  not  sustain  by 
their  fees  a  first-class  law  school,  and  that  the  State  paid  but 
very  little  towards  it. 

Now  this  was  very  plain  talk,  and  if  my  object  had  not 
been  to  better  my  English  and  to  improve  myself  in  American 
manners  and  ways  of  living,  I  should  most  likely  have  packed 
my  trunk  at  once  and  gone  back  home.  As  it  was,  I  did  not 
care.  Mays  had  a  great  reputation  as  a  common-law  lawyer. 
He  may  have  been  in  former  times  a  good  lecturer,  but  at 
present  he  was  in  such  poor  health  that  talking  was  evidently 
painful  to  him,  and  his  voice  was  thin  and  husky  at  the  same 
time.  There  was  another  professor  of  law  there,  Judge  Rob- 
ertson, a  fine  and  imposing-looking  man,  somewhat  pompous 
and  rhetorical.  He  delivered  a  course  of  lectures,  —  only  a 
few  hours,  however,  every  week,  —  on  Equity  Jurisprudence. 
As  he  was,  at  the  same  time,  judge  of  the  Court  of  Equity 
in  Kentucky,  I  believe,  he  got  no  salary  from  the  State.  Only 
a  few  of  the  oldest  law-students  attended  his  lectures.  The 
equity  system,  being  in  form  and  substance,  largely  derived 
from  the  Roman  law,  I  found  no  difficulty  in  becoming  fa- 
miliar with  it,  and  so  I  dispensed  with  hearing  Judge  Rob- 
ertson's lectures.  One  quite  celebrated  Dr.  Caldwell  gave 
lectures  on  Medical  Jurisprudence. 

The  mode  of  imparting  instruction  was  an  old-fashioned 
one,  long  since  discarded,  if  it  ever  existed,  on  the  continent 
of  Europe.  The  professor  read  from  a  text-book  a  chapter 
or  part  of  a  chapter.  If  the  statutes  had  repealed  or  mater- 
ially changed  the  common  law  as  laid  down  in  Blackstone, 
he  would  call  our  attention  to  it ;  otherwise  he  had  very  little 
to  say.  We  were  expected  to  go  over  the  chapter  carefully 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  353 

at  home.  At  the  next  session  he  would  ask  questions,  which, 
of  course,  could  be  very  readily  answered  by  those  who  had 
any  memory  at  all.  This  questioning  took  up  half  the  time, 
and  then  the  procedure  of  the  previous  session  was  repeated. 
The  first  week  was  idled  away  in  this  wise. 

Professor  Mays  delivered  an  inaugural  oration  on  the 
first  day.  On  the  second,  Caldwell,  the  principal  professor 
of  medicine,  followed  suit.  As  it  was  supposed  that  every 
student  would  hear  all  of  the  addresses,  no  lectures  were  given 
that  week.  And  I  believe  most  all  the  students  did  go  and 
hear  them,  —  not  that  they  took  a  very  great  interest  in  them, 
but  because  inaugural  week  was  a  succession  of  field-days. 
Not  only  all  the  young  men  and  fashionable  ladies  of  Lexing- 
ton, but  many  from  Frankfort  and  even  from  Louisville, 
made  it  a  point  to  attend,  so  as  to  show  their  new  winter  bon- 
nets and  dresses.  The  fine  and  lofty  aula  of  the  University 
was  crowded.  I  cannot  deny  that  I  had  never  seen  before 
such  an  assembly  of  beautiful,  elegantly  dressed  young  ladies. 
Indeed,  it  was  a  most  charming  sight.  Professor  Mays  opened 
the  inaugural  week,  and  the  platform  was  occupied  by  the 
Governor  of  Kentucky,  several  State  officers,  the  judges  and 
several  other  prominent  citizens  of  Lexington,  all  the  profes- 
sors of  the  University  and  of  the  Academy  connected  with  it ; 
and,  of  course,  all  the  students  of  both  institutions  were  pres- 
ent, the  medical  students,  about  200,  being  in  the  majority. 

About  this  time  I  had  written  to  Sophie,  giving  an  ac- 
count of  my  journey  to  Lexington  and  my  first  impressions 
of  the  place.  This  was  the  beginning  of  our  correspondence. 
Her  reply  was  the  first  letter  I  ever  received  from  her.  It 
was  a  treasure  to  me.  This,  like  all  her  other  letters,  was  so 
clear  a  transcript  of  herself,  that  I  almost  thought  that  she 
was  present.  No  idle  word,  no  affectation.  Aware  that  I 
knew  how  she  loved  me,  she  saw  no  need  of  giving  me  ad- 
ditional assurance ;  and  yet  there  were  passages  in  her  letters 
unpremeditated,  which  showed  the  finest  feelings  and  were 
really  poetic.  I  noticed  in  my  diary,  Dec.  9,  1834:  "It  is 


354 

one  of  my  greatest  pleasures  to  read  and  reread  Sophie's  let- 
ters, which  seem  to  me  to  contain  much  poetry,  though  I  am 
just  now  deeply  in  Byron."  I  had  written  that  I  should 
have  to  enter  thoroughly  into  American  life,  if  I  wished 
to  succeed  in  the  course  which  I  had  laid  out  for  myself. 
Concerning  this  remark,  Sophie  replied:  "These  words  have 
weighed  heavily  on  my  heart.  Thou  hast  often  said  the 
same;  but  it  never  struck  me  as  it  does  now  when  I  read  it. 
Would  it  not  be  sad,  if  thou  wouldst  have  always  to  keep  in 
mind  to  be  an  American?  And  if  everything  must  have  its 
dark  side  also !  You  will  smile  at  my  fears ;  but  be  not  angry ; 
it  has  made  me  sad,  and  so  I  have  had  to  come  out  with  it. 
My  candle  has  nearly  burnt  down,  the  girls  are  going  to  bed, 
and  I  must  do  the  same.  Goodnight,  my  Gustav,  dream  a 
little  of  me.  Alas !  I  have  not  even  once  dreamt  of  thee  since 
thou  left." 

While  her  pure  and  tender  heart  shone  through  all  her 
letters,  she  at  the  same  time,  in  a  few  words,  gave  me  a  sensi- 
ble account  of  all  that  she  thought  of  interest  to  me.  It  may 
appear  strange  that  our  correspondence  was  not  as  frequent 
as  it  might  have  been.  The  reason  was  the  high  postage.  Both 
of  us  had  to  use  economy.  At  that  time  postage  was  calculated 
according  to  distance.  A  single  letter  to  Lexington  was 
charged  18%  cents.  It  did  not  go  by  weight.  If  there  were 
two  sheets,  or  even  an  envelope,  it  cost  double,  so  that  most 
letters  cost  ST1/^  cents.  A  single  letter  from  Belleville  to 
New  York  cost  25  cents;  to  St.  Louis,  G1^. 

My  life  was  very  regular.  Breakfast  was  announced 
precisely  at  eight  o'clock.  I  then  took  a  smoke,  and  went  to 
the  lectures  from  nine  to  twelve.  Took  a  walk.  Dinner  was  at 
two.  I  then  smoked  a  cigar  and  studied  my  law  books  until 
dark.  Took  a  walk.  Supper  at  half  past  six  in  the  evening. 
Smoked  and  studied  until  about  nine  o'clock.  Then  took  to 
light  literature. 

Of  course,  there  were  many  exceptions.  Mrs.  Boswell, 
a  rich  widow,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Boggs,  usually  had  a  large 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  355 

company  of  young  ladies  in  the  drawing-room.  Whenever 
I  felt  like  it,  I  went  down.  There  were  frequently  young 
ladies  from  Frankfort  and  Louisville  staying  for  weeks  with 
Mrs.  Bos  well,  who  boarded  with  her  mother.  Most  all  the 
ladies  were  highly  accomplished  according  to  the  fashion  of 
this  country.  Some  of  them  played  very  well  on  the  piano, 
and  some  sang  remarkably  well.  They  played  for  me  German 
melodies  and  songs  translated  from  the  German.  When  Mr. 
Lutz  came  in,  who  was  an  Apollo-like  man,  a  fine  performer 
on  the  piano,  and  a  splendid  dancer,  he  was  idolized  by  the 
girls.  Ellen  Douglas  from  Louisville,  just  graduated  from  a 
young  ladies'  seminary,  a  girl  as  beautiful  as  graceful,  had 
learned  to  waltz.  Some  of  the  young  ladies,  who  were  not, 
like  Mrs.  Boggs,  and  her  daughter  and  daughter-in-law,  Pres- 
byterians, wanted  to  learn  this  dance  also.  Mr.  Lutz  and 
myself  had  to  become  their  teachers,  and  some  of  our  young 
fellow-boarders  and  students  grew  to  be  very  envious  of  us 
on  this  account.  I  may  say  here  that  towards  the  end  of  the 
session,  when  parties  followed  upon  parties,  —  and  I  had  to 
attend  a  good  many,  —  the  waltz-mania  had  spread,  and  while, 
of  course,  quadrilles  were  the  rule,  we  generally  had  two  or 
three  round  dances  every  time,  —  a  great  many  ladies  for 
want  of  gentlemen  waltzing  with  one  another.  Yet  with  the 
exception  of  one  grand  ball  given  on  the  occasion  of  the  Leg- 
islature's visiting  Lexington  in  a  body,  to  which  the  law  stu- 
dents were  invited,  and  one  concert,  there  were  no  other  pub- 
lic amusements  during  the  winter.  The  churches  supplied 
the  place  of  these  amusements;  for  not  only  did  all  the  fash- 
ionable and  respectable  world  go  to  church  twice  every  Sun- 
day en  grande  toilette,  but  there  were  frequent  sermons 
preached  and  lectures  delivered  on  week-day  nights.  The  fire- 
side conversation  turned  frequently  on  the  preachers,  their 
eloquence,  or  lack  of  it ;  sometimes  even  on  what  they  preach- 
ed ;  and  the  same  interest  was  shown  in  their  discussions  which 
fashionable  people  in  Europe  take  in  operas,  dramas,  actors 
and  actresses. 


356  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

CHURCH-GOING   EXPERIENCES 

In  order  to  become  acquainted  with  this  phase  of  Amer- 
ican society,  and  finding  also  the  listening  to  sermons  and 
lectures  very  useful  for  improving  myself  in  the  language, 
I  attended  several  of  these  religious  entertainments.  One 
night  I  heard  the  discourse  of  a  Presbyterian  clergyman  on 
"Scepticism."  He  had  been  billed  as  the  most  eloquent 
defender  of  the  Christian  faith.  Eloquent  he  was  in  a  certain 
sense,  but  he  was  as  stupid  as  eloquent.  All  prophecies,  he 
exclaimed,  were  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  Jericho  was  blown 
down  by  the  trumpets  of  the  believing  Jews,  sun  and  moon 
having  deviated  from  their  courses.  When  Emperor  Julian, 
the  Apostate,  undertook  to  rebuild  Jerusalem,  the  workmen 
were  driven  away  by  celestial  fires  because  Christ  had  de- 
creed the  downfall  of  that  city,  never  to  rise  again.  God,  he 
repeatedly  declared,  would  visit  the  severest  penalty  on  all 
disbelievers.  Gibbon  and  all  sceptical  writers  were  now  suf- 
fering, as  he  believed,  the  torments  of  hell.  When  afterwards, 
in  the  drawing-room,  I  pretty  sharply  criticised  the  minister's 
lecture,  the  ladies  and  gentlemen,  at  least  some  of  them, 
thought  about  as  I  did.  But  free  America,  generally  speak- 
ing, is  a  slave  to  what  is  considered  prevailing  public  opinion. 

Another  evening,  I  heard  a  very  eloquent  and  sensible 
sermon  in  the  Presbyterian  church  by  the  celebrated  Robert 
Breckenridge  of  Baltimore.  His  contention  was  that  the 
human  mind  must  be  always  engaged  with  something,  and 
that  when  it  is  not  occupied  with  high  and  elevated  subjects, 
it  would,  with  equal  intensity,  stoop  to  low,  or  at  least  to  in- 
different ones.  He  cited  Charles  the  Fifth,  who,  after  having 
been  supreme  ruler  over  many  lands,  passed  his  time  after 
his  resignation  in  the  regulation  of  clocks,  and  Francis  of 
Austria,  who  left  the  government  to  Metternich  and  amused 
himself  by  manufacturing  sealing-wax.  It  was  more  like  an 
interesting  lecture  than  a  sermon. 

The  following  completes  my  church-going  experiences. 
Posters  stuck  up  in  various  places  had  informed  the  public 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  357 

that  a  very  distinguished  New  England  minister  would  give 
a  lecture  in  one  of  the  churches,  I  forget  which,  on  the  results 
of  a  late  tour  he  had  made  in  the  West.  The  church  was 
crowded,  as  the  man  had  a  great  reputation  as  an  eloquent 
lecturer.  After  giving  a  rather  commonplace  account  of  his 
trip  down  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Mississippi  and  part  of  the 
Missouri  River,  he  enlarged  considerably  on  the  city  of  St. 
Louis,  pronounced  it  a  rising  city,  destined  to  become  a  great 
commercial  center,  but  being  at  the  present  time  a  most  wicked 
place,  the  resort  of  all  sorts  of  gamblers,  horse-racers,  ad- 
venturers and  cut-throats.  They  did  not,  he  said,  keep  the 
Lord's  day  holy.  This,  however,  he  continued,  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at;  for  a  majority  of  the  population  were  stupid, 
ignorant  Catholic  French,  whose  religion  was  more  pagan 
than  Christian.  Now  one  of  the  audience,  sitting  right  by 
my  side,  and  a  member  of  the  law-class,  was  Louis  V.  Bogy, 
of  St.  Louis,  a  Frenchman,  with  whom  I  kept  up  most  friendly 
relations  until  he  died  a  few  years  ago,  and  who  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent  citizens  of  St.  Louis.  When  the  preacher 
came  to  the  passage  above  cited,  his  fiery  French  temper 
could  stand  it  no  longer.  He  rose  up  and  in  a  thundering 

voice  exclaimed:  "You  are  a  d liar!"       The  lecturer 

stopped  and  grew  pale.  One  of  the  ministers  who  was  with 
him  on  the  platform  remarked  that  the  incident  was  very 
much  to  be  regretted;  that  such  a  thing  had  never  been  wit- 
nessed before;  that  the  young  gentleman  was  certainly  to  be 
severely  blamed,  and  he  hoped  he  would  apologize  or  retire. 
Bogy  picked  up  his  hat  and  left,  and  so  did  I.  I  had  come 
with  Bogy,  and  I  was  almost  as  angry  as  he  was  at  the  im- 
pertinence of  the  long-faced  hypocrite. 

FRIENDS  IN  LEXINGTON 

This  flurry  was  the  talk  for  a  week,  but  nothing  came  of 
it.  Bogy  was  considered  in  our  class  with  more  regard  than 
before.  Speaking  of  our  law-class,  it  had  some  thirty-five 
students.  Most  all  of  them  had  a  good  collegiate  education, 


358  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

were  the  sons  of  Congressmen,  of  officers  or  ex-officers  of  the 
State,  or  of  eminent  lawyers  or  judges.  There  was  one,  Mr. 
Wickliffe,  who  had  a  most  remarkable  likeness  to  George  Wash- 
ington, as  he  appeared  on  his  youthful  pictures,  and  who  be- 
came, I  believe,  a  cabinet-officer  in  the  cabinet  of  Tyler. 
Menifee,  who  had  already  graduated,  but  still  attended  our 
lectures,  became  one  of  the  most  eloquent  members  of  Con- 
gress; and  there  was  a  son  of  Senator  Crittenden,  who,  I  be- 
lieve, was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista  in  Mexico.  An- 
other was  a  Mr.  McKee,  and  J.  W.  Lapsly,  of  Alabama,  with 
whom,  as  he  boarded  at  Mrs.  Boggs's,  I  became  more  intimate. 
This  gentleman,  on  parting,  gave  me  a  very  elegant  copy  of 
Shakespeare's  dramas,  and,  having  become  in  his  State  a 
prominent  lawyer,  remained  a  staunch  Union  man,  by  which 
course  he  became  well  known  all  over  the  country.  For  some 
years  after  we  left  Lexington  we  corresponded.  There  was 
also  a  young  Powell,  who  became  Governor  of  Kentucky  and 
United  States  Senator,  and  who,  while  we  were  political  an- 
tipodes during  the  rebellion,  never  lost  an  opportunity  of 
sending  me  words  of  friendship.  There  was,  too,  a  McPherson, 
who  afterwards  moved  to  St.  Louis,  and  died  not  very  long 
ago,  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  wealthy  men  of  St.  Louis. 
The  fact  is,  the  law-students  were  rather  an  aristocratic  set, 
and  it  was  probably  on  this  account  that  most  of  us  were  in- 
vited to  all  the  balls  and  parties,  while  the  medical  students 
did  not  enjoy  that  privilege. 

Now  there  is  no  people  in  the  world,  perhaps,  that  is  easier 
of  access  and  acquaintance  than  the  American  people. 
Strangers,  if  they  are  well-behaved,  are  received  most  cordially 
in  the  circles  to  which  they  appear  to  belong,  and  the  confi- 
dence that  is  placed  in  persons  after  even  the  slightest  ac- 
quaintance is  remarkable.  It  probably  proceeds  from  the  fact 
that  there  is  so  great  an  identity  of  views  on  general  subjects 
among  them.  Very  few  Americans  are  troubled  with  spleen 
or  idiosyncrasies.  They  are  cast  pretty  much  all  in  the  same 
mold;  hence  there  is  a  great  deal  less  friction  here  than  in 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  359 

countries  where  individuality  is  far  more  pronounced.  Dur- 
ing all  my  stay  at  the  University,  I  never  heard  of  any  quar- 
rels or  collisions  among  the  members  of  my  class.  In  any  as- 
sociation of  German  students  of  the  same  number,  disputes 
and  conflicts  would  have  been  unavoidable. 

While  on  a  friendly  footing  with  all  my  fellow-students, 
there  was  only  one  with  whom  I  formed  a  real  friendship,  — 
James  S.  Allen,  of  Winchester,  Kentucky.  In  a  letter  to 
Sophie  I  speak  of  him  thus:  " James  S.  Allen,  if  I  am  not 
greatly  mistaken,  is  bound  to  play  hereafter  an  important  part 
in  the  United  States.  He  is  thoroughly  cultured,  speaks  French 
fluently,  knows  the  best  German  authors,  at  least  by  transla- 
tions, and  knows  Faust  nearly  by  heart.  He  is  the  foremost 
of  our  law-students,  and  an  orator,  the  like  of  whom  I  have 
never  heard  before.  His  father  is  a  member  of  Congress, 
which  will,  of  course,  be  a  great  help  to  him.  He  may  interest 
you  and  the  family  also  from  the  fact  that,  while  attending 
here  the  Academy  connected  with  the  University,  he  lived  a 
year  with  Dr.  Toland,  —  and  besides  he  is  very  handsome. ' ' 

In  reply,  Sophie  wrote  me  that  Dr.  Toland,  who  was  with 
us  on  the  Logan,  had  told  them  of  his  residence  at  Lexington, 
and  also  of  Allen,  of  whom  he  had  spoken  as  I  had  done  in 
my  letter.  After  I  returned  to  Illinois,  he  corresponded  with 
me  for  some  time,  and  sent  me  a  beautiful  oration  which  he 
delivered  in  September,  1835,  at  the  commencement  of  South 
Hanover  College,  Indiana.  "The  audience,"  he  said  in  his 
letter  enclosing  the  oration,  "was  large,  though  composed,  in 
part,  of  rude  material  —  good  Hoosiers.  My  discourse  was 
in  several  places  somewhat  droll  and  burlesque,  which  pleased 
the  natives  amazingly;  but  some  pious  soul,  I  am  informed, 
expressed  the  opinion  that  I  would  have  done  better  to  talk 
of  Moses,  Jonah,  St.  Paul  and  their  various  Biblical  brethren, 
than  to  be  talking  of  Socrates,  Jupiter  and  so  forth,  who  had 
been  dead  and  buried  hundreds  of  years. ' '  At  the  conclusion 
of  his  oration  there  were  some  passages  that  few  Americans 
would  have  been  willing,  even  if  able,  to  utter.  The  number 


360  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEBNER 

of  imprisoned  German  students  was  exaggerated,  but  an  item 
of  that  kind  had  just  gone  the  round  of  many  American  news- 
papers. ' '  There  are  at  this  time, ' '  Allen  said,  ' '  two  thousand 
students  confined  in  the  prisons  of  Germany  for  an  attempt 
to  erect  a  Republican  government  on  the  rums  of  their  old 
tyrannical  system.  Gentlemen  of  the  literary  societies  of 
South  Hanover,  permit  me  to  express  our  common  sympathy 
for  these  enlightened  sufferers  for  freedom's  sake.  Let  us  be 
the  first  to  make  such  a  public  demonstration  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  They  have  a  double  claim  on  our  sympathy, 
they  are  students,  they  are  devoted  to  freedom.  Yes!  They 
are  trained  in  the  same  walks  where  the  fiery  genius  of  Koer- 
ner  and  the  herculean  intellect  of  Kant  were  matured  and 
they  are  buried  in  the  gloom  of  a  dungeon. ' '  There  are  other 
similar  enthusiastic  and  eloquent  passages  in  this  conclusion. 

He  very  soon,  however,  informed  me  that  his  health  was 
failing,  that  he  had  intended  to  take  another  term  at  the  Uni- 
versity as  a  fellow  —  he  had  already  graduated  —  but  had 
been  advised  to  stay  at  his  father 's  place  in  the  country.  Some 
years  after,  I  learned  that  he  was  a  distinguished  professor  in 
a  college,  in  Ohio,  I  believe,  and  not  very  long  after  hearing 
this,  I  learned  that  he  had  died.  Had  health  been  vouchsafed 
him,  I  believe  my  prophecy  would  have  proved  true.  He  was 
one  of  the  noblest  fellows  I  ever  called  my  friend. 

Through  Allen,  whom,  of  course,  I  visited  often,  I  was 
introduced  to  the  family  with  which  he  was  boarding.  They 
were  French,  and  lived  in  a  country-house  right  opposite  Mr. 
Clay 's  mansion,  a  mile  from  the  city.  The  father,  M.  Montelle, 
was  quite  an  old  man  of  the  ancient  regime,  very  conservative, 
and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken  in  my  recollection,  wore  a  small 
queue,  a  fashion  which  had  not  gone  quite  out  of  date  when 
I  first  came  here.  He  was  cashier  of  the  United  States  Branch 
Bank  of  Kentucky  and  very  highly  respected.  His  wife  was 
perhaps  ten  years  younger;  she  must  have  been  very  hand- 
some, and  was  yet  a  very  lively  French  woman.  One  of  the 
daughters  was  married  to  one  of  Henry  Clay's  sons,  who  had 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  361 

a  farm  in  the  neighborhood.  Two  other  daughters,  one  rather 
a  little  old,  the  other  quite  young,  both  full  of  grace  and 
vivacity,  made  up  the  rest  of  the  family.  They  received  me 
with  great  cordiality,  were  so  glad  to  have  French  spoken  all 
round,  and,  as  long  as  they  had  been  in  the  country  and  the 
girls  natives  of  it,  they  complained  much  of  the  rather  cold 
and  stiff  manner  in  which  the  Americans  pretended  to  amuse 
themselves.  Of  course,  we  had  a  quadrille,  the  old  lady  play- 
ing for  us  on  the  violin  and  calling  out  the  figures,  and  being 
as  much  pleased  as  we  were.  They  told  me  to  make  their 
house  my  home,  not  in  the  Spanish  figurative  sense;  and  I 
went  out  very  often  and  spent  many  pleasant  hours  at  their 
house  with  them  and  other  visitors.  The  old  lady,  although 
she  said  she  detested  waltzing,  was  yet  good-natured  enough 
to  play  us  a  waltz  tune,  and  the  only  one  she  knew  was  "Ei, 
du  lieber  Augustin,  alles  ist  hin." 

Speaking  of  my  social  life,  I  may  at  once  remark  that 
towards  the  close  of  the  session,  parties  crowded  upon  parties. 
I  did  not  attend  all,  not  even  many,  though  I  believe  I  was 
invited  to  all.  It  is  only  the  first  step  that  costs.  If  you  at- 
tend one  and  do  not  displease  people,  you  are  sure  to  be  in- 
vited to  all  that  take  place  within  the  same  circle.  Most  of 
them  were  very  elegant.  Splendid  suppers  at  midnight  and 
seldom  a  general  break-up  before  morning.  At  one  party,  at 
the  Todd's,  I  met  Mary  Todd,  who  became  Lincoln's  wife. 

A  DEBATING  CLUB 

Early  in  December,  I  joined  our  University  debating- 
club.  It  had  existed  a  long  time,  and  Clay  had  been  a  member 
of  it  when  he  first  commenced  practicing  in  Lexington.  Mem- 
bers had  to  be  balloted  for,  and  there  was  a  big  entrance  fee. 
Its  meetings  were  always  well  attended  and  the  beauty  of 
Lexington  was  strongly  represented.  It  was  a  serious  under- 
taking for  me,  but  I  thought  it  must  be  done.  Of  course,  I 
knew  my  imperfections,  particularly  in  the  matter  of  accent. 
The  more  I  had  read  good  English  writers,  such  as  Addison, 


362  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Lady  Montague,  and  Washington  Irving,  and  the  more  I  had 
studied  Blair's  " Rhetoric,"  the  more  diffident  I  felt  of  ever 
obtaining  a  fluent  and  graceful  style.  Of  course,  I  could  not 
undertake  to  speak  off-hand.  The  three  speeches  I  made  I 
carefully  prepared  and  wrote  them  down.  My  memory  was 
so  good  that  by  reading  them  over  two  or  three  times,  I  could 
recite  them  word  for  word.  Besides,  I  had  at  the  University 
and  on  several  public  occasions  in  Germany,  spoken  ex  tern- 
pore  and  knew  that  even  if  my  memory  would  play  me  false, 
I  could  fill  the  gap  by  other  words  until  I  could  find  the  thread 
again.  The  two  first  debates  in  which  I  had  received  appoint- 
ments to  speak  by  the  committee,  were  on  rather  commonplace 
subjects,  but  I  got  along  pretty  well.  My  speaking  was  bad, 
but  I  presented  some  new  points  which  rather  attracted  at- 
tention. Of  course,  I  was  complimented  on  my  efforts  more 
from  the  good  nature  of  the  Americans  than  from  the  real 
merits  of  my  pronunciation.  When,  near  the  close  of  the 
session,  I  was  assigned  to  debate  the  question  "Whether  party- 
spirit  was  beneficial  or  not "  —  on  the  affirmative  side  —  I 
had,  I  can  say  in  truth,  greatly  improved.  As  our  members 
were  nearly  all  very  fluent  and  eloquent  speakers,  indulging, 
however,  more  in  rhetorical  flights  and  often  extravagant 
declamation  than  in  sound  argument,  I  took  it  into  my  head  to 
beat  them  at  their  own  game.  I  took  care  to  have  my  oration 
grammatically  and  constructively  correct.  I  interlarded  it 
with  Latin  and  with  even  one  Greek  citation,  was  as  flowery 
as  I  could  possibly  be,  according  to  my  nature.  Greek,  Roman 
and  modern  history  was  called  in  aid  of  my  argument.  It 
being  the  last  meeting  of  the  society,  the  large  hall  was  crowd- 
ed and  there  was  even  a  larger  and  more  brilliant  array  of  the 
fair  Lexingtonians  present  than  on  any  former  occasions.  I 
felt  a  sort  of  inspiration  and  I  was  convinced  while  speaking 
that  I  had  made  a  hit,  which,  of  course,  made  me  still  more 
confident.  I  was  very  much  applauded  at  the  conclusion. 
The  committee  decided  against  me  and  my  associates  on  the 
question  itself,  but  unanimously  voted  that  we  had  made  the 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  363 

best  presentation  of  the  argument.  Indeed,  the  speech  cre- 
ated a  sensation.  That  I  really  intended  it  as  a  kind  of  mild 
burlesque  on  the  national  mode  of  eloquence  in  serious  as  well 
as  sham  debates,  nobody  seemed  to  have  discovered,  except  my 
friend  Allen. 

My  letters  to  Sophie  and  to  Theodore  Engelmann,  writ- 
ten from  Lexington,  together  with  the  fragments  of  my  diary 
from  the  summer  of  1833  to  1836,  which  were  partly  lost  when 
my  house  burnt  down  in  Belleville,  January  21,  1854,  gave 
a  very  true  and  vivid  picture  of  my  life  in  Lexington. 

From  what  I  have  written  here,  it  might  be  supposed  that 
my  stay  at  the  place  was  altogether  a  pleasant  one.  But  that 
was  not  so.  Absence  made  me  feel  how  deeply  I  loved  Sophie, 
and  created  a  homesick  longing,  such  as  I  had  never  felt  be- 
fore. Many  letters  from  my  family,  though  full  of  affection 
and  so  far,  of  course,  quite  consolatory,  brought  much  sad 
news  as  to  many  of  my  friends.  Dr.  Charles  Bunsen,  brother 
of  Gustav  and  George  Bunsen,  and  Fred.  Jucho,  also  a  friend 
of  mine,  had  been  arrested  under  serious  charges  of  conspir- 
acy. Many  of  my  former  fellow-students,  particularly  of 
Heidelberg,  had  also  been  confined,  and,  what  most  alarmed 
me,  the  business  place  of  my  brother  Charles  had  been  raided 
by  the  police  in  search  of  political  books  and  pamphlets  for- 
bidden by  the  government,  and  proceedings  had  been  com- 
menced against  him  for  publishing  and  selling  political  con- 
traband. Though  I  was  sure  he  knew  nothing  of  the  third  of 
April  emeute,  he  might  be  imprisoned  a  long  time  during 
trial.  But  that  was  not  all.  During  the  first  few  months,  I 
became  doubtful  whether  after  all  I  could  succeed  in  the  plan 
of  life  I  had  marked  out  for  myself,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
my  life,  I  had  hours  of  despondency.  But  I  determined  to 
fight  my  way  out  on  the  lines  taken.  "Perseverance"  —  I 
wrote  in  my  diary  —  "is  now  my  motto. ' '  And  then  I  was 
a  stranger  amongst  strangers.  I  and  my  associates  stood  not 
upon  the  same  plane.  Europe  was  to  all  of  them  a  sealed 
book.  We  had  no  recollections  in  common.  They  mostly 


364  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

studied  their  profession  only  to  make  money,  and  their  stand- 
ard of  merit  was  success  only.  My  room-mate,  a  clever 
enough  fellow,  once  asked  me  seriously,  how  much  it  would 
cost  him  in  dollars  and  cents  to  get  such  an  education  as  I  had. 
I  was  frequently  questioned  how  many  months  it  would  take 
to  learn  German  or  French,  and  how  much  it  would  cost.  It 
was  clear  that  there  was  no  sympathetic  chord  that  bound  me 
to  the  people  I  had  to  associate  with. 

Yet,  after  all,  my  going  away  from  my  German  friends, 
and  my  becoming  acquainted  with  the  academical  and  home- 
life  of  the  higher  American  circles  was  worth  the  sacrifice  I 
had  made.  To  have  influence  upon  men,  you  must  know 
them;  for  a  lawyer  whose  business  is  to  handle  men,  this 
knowledge  is  indispensable.  My  travels  in  Missouri  and  my 
intercourse  with  my  American  neighbors  in  Illinois,  farmers 
or  traders  in  small  towns,  had  given  me  a  pretty  good  idea 
of  country  life.  Lexington,  though  not  a  large  place,  was  a 
rich  and  comparatively  cultured  place.  Political  and  pro- 
fessional eminence  at  that  time  was  much  more  esteemed  than 
riches.  I  believe  John  Jacob  Astor  was  then  almost  the  only 
millionaire  in  the  United  States.  "If  I  were  only  as  rich  as 
John  Jacob  Astor,"  could  be  heard  very  often.  As  regards 
legal  knowledge,  that  I  might  have  acquired  at  the  old  farm 
just  as  well;  but  in  knowledge  of  the  world  I  was  to  live  in, 
and  in  the  improvement  of  my  English  speaking,  my  stay  at 
Lexington  was  to  me  of  incalculable  profit. 

At  last  the  lectures  came  to  a  close,  a  little  earlier  than 
usual,  owing  to  the  illness  of  Professor  Mays.  The  weather  in 
February  had  been  unusually  cold,  the  thermometer  falling 
for  several  days  to  24  degrees  below  zero,  Reamur,  and  the 
snow  being  ten  inches  thick  in  the  streets  of  Lexington.  I 
made  my  parting  visits,  and  early  in  March  bade  adieu  to  Al- 
len and  Lutz,  who  went  with  me  to  the  depot.  Both  had  be- 
come very  much  attached  to  me.  Lutz,  some  ten  years  after 
I  left  him,  married  a  rich  heiress,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Mansfield,  and  she  made  it  a  condition  that  he  should  adopt 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  365 

her  name.  Under  that  name  he  moved,  in  1850,  into  Indiana, 
and  resided  on  a  beautiful  country  seat  near  Madison.  Being 
in  affluent  circumstances  his  home  was  the  resort  of  the  best 
society  at  Madison  and  the  country  round.  I  believe  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Republican  convention  which  nominated 
Lincoln  for  President  in  1860.  He  was  some  sixty  years  of 
age  when  the  war  broke  out,  which  prevented  him  from  enter- 
ing active  service.  But  when  Morgan  with  a  Confederate 
corps  was  about  entering  Indiana,  Governor  Morton  appointed 
him  commander  of  the  whole  militia  of  the  state  with  the  rank 
of  major-general.  After  the  war  he  held  some  military  posi- 
tion in  the  State,  removing  to  Indianapolis.  In  1870  he  bought 
land  in  Illinois,  on  the  new  Bloomington  and  Danville  Rail- 
road, laid  out  the  town  of  Mansfield,  built  himself  a  residence, 
and  died  September  20,  1876.  He  was,  when  I  knew  him,  the 
handsomest  man  I  ever  saw,  combining  the  strength  of  Her- 
cules with  the  beauty  of  Antinous. 

AN  INCIDENT  OF  THE  RIVER-TRIP  HOME 

Arriving  in  the  evening  at  Louisville,  I  found  there  was 
but  one  boat  advertised  to  leave  for  St.  Louis  the  next  day. 
When  I  went  on  board  in  the  morning,  the  captain  told  me  I 
would  have  to  wait  a  day  longer,  as  the  canal  was  yet  frozen 
and  he  would  not  dare  to  go  over  the  falls,  since  a  great  deal 
of  ice  was  still  running  in  the  river,  although  the  river  was 
otherwise  high  enough.  Anxious  as  I  was  to  reach  home,  I 
had  to  go  back  to  the  hotel.  But  I  put  my  time  to  the  best 
use  I  could  by  making  a  call  on  the  beautiful  Ellen  Douglas, 
who  had  set  all  the  young  men  of  Lexington  crazy.  I  had 
quite  a  pleasant  interview  with  her  in  the  parlor,  no  one  in- 
terrupting us  at  all  —  American  fashion.  Next  morning  I 
again  went  on  board  the  Dove;  the  canal  was  still  frozen, 
but  the  captain  concluded  to  run  the  falls  about  noon.  There 
was  a  company  of  United  States  soldiers  on  board,  three  of- 
ficers and  a  paymaster  of  the  army,  Major  Brandt,  of  St.  Louis. 


366  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

The  captain  said  he  had  an  extra  first-rate  pilot  from  the  city, 
who  knew  every  inch  of  ground  in  the  falls ;  but  if  the  gentle- 
men preferred,  they  could  take  carriages  and  drive  down  to 
the  end  of  the  falls,  where  he  would  land  and  take  us  in.  The 
officers  preferred  that  route,  and  some  of  the  few  passengers. 
I  thought  that  at  least  one  of  the  officers  should  have  stayed 
with  their  men.  But  that  was  perhaps  a  romantic  European 
notion.  I  confess  that  I  would  also  have  preferred  going  that 
way,  but  my  purse  had  run  very  low.  The  boat-passage  was 
several  dollars  higher  than  what  I  had  paid  in  the  fall  when 
many  boats  were  running,  and  my  involuntary  stay  in  Louis- 
ville had  also  cost  a  couple  of  dollars,  so  that  I  had  only  a  few 
dollars  left.  This  consideration,  not  a  desire  to  brave  an 
unknown  danger,  kept  me  on  board.  We  started ;  heavy  cakes 
of  ice  thundered  at  once  against  the  ribs  of  our  boat,  which 
was  quite  a  small  one.  "We  got  into  the  falls,  or  rather  rapids, 
but  in  the  midst  of  them  I  heard  a  loud  crack,  the  boat  turned 
round,  and  some  men  with  blanched  cheeks  ran  from  the  pilot- 
house back  to  the  rudder.  The  tiller-rope,  by  which  the  rud- 
der is  worked  from  the  pilot-house,  had  snapped.  We  were  all 
on  deck  and  expected  to  strike  the  rocks  on  either  side  every 
minute.  Fortunately,  the  men  succeeded  in  tying  the  rope 
again,  and  the  pilot  again  gained  command  of  the  boat.  We 
got  through,  but  the  captain  himself  said  he  thought  that  both 
we  and  the  boat  were  gone. 

I  must  add  that  I  was  pretty  well  scared,  though  I  had 
not  let  my  cigar  go  out.  We  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
but  here  again  we  had  to  stop.  The  ice  came  running  down 
the  Mississippi  furiously  and  in  cakes  from  one  to  ten  inches 
thick.  It  was  impossible  to  move  against  it.  We  had  to  lay 
here  for  two  days  at  a  point  where  there  were  only  one  or  two 
shanties.  We  were  out  of  meat,  eggs  and  other  things,  and 
were  obliged  to  live  on  half  rations.  Some  of  our  party  went 
to  the  Kentucky  shore  and  killed  a  couple  of  deer  and  got  some 
provisions.  One  can  imagine  my  impatience.  I  was  terribly 
homesick.  Finally  the  ice  grew  more  manageable.  Huge 


STUDYING  LAW  IN  LEXINGTON  367 

trees  were  felled  and  chained  and  tied  to  the  bow  of  the  boat, 
forming  a  sort  of  breastwork.  But  although  we  proceeded 
quite  slowly  and  avoided  the  biggest  clumps  of  ice,  these 
breastworks  were  more  than  once  every  day  broken  to  pieces 
and  had  to  be  replaced.  It  was  anything  but  a  pleasant  trip, 
and  I  almost  died  with  impatience.  Finally,  St.  Louis  was 
reached,  the  stage  taken,  and  in  a  few  hours  I  was  amongst 
my  dear  friends  and  in  the  arms  of  my  loving  girl. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Beginning  the  Practice  of  the  Law  (1835-1836) 

Some  considerable  changes  had  taken  place  during  my 
absence.  Just  before  I  left,  Mr.  Ernst  Decker  and  a  friend 
by  the  name  of  Mirus  had  arrived  at  the  Engelmann  farm. 
What  brought  them  there  I  have  forgotten.  Decker  had  been 
studying  theology  and  philosophy  at  Breslau  in  Silesia,  For 
political  reasons  he  left  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  United 
States.  Mirus  was  also  a  political  refugee  from  some  uni- 
versity, I  believe  Leipsic.  Decker  was  tall  and  very  handsome. 
Like  most  Silesians,  he  was  a  very  warm-hearted  and  sanguine 
man  — ' '  gemuethlich. ' '  Of  strict  integrity,  of  the  most  even 
temper,  and  of  very  pleasant  manners,  he  was  a  most  lovable 
character.  Misfortune  and  disappointment,  which  unfortu- 
nately met  him  but  too  often  in  his  career,  did  not  embitter 
his  feelings.  He  bore  adversity  with  serene  patience.  He 
had  what  I  thought  a  most  remarkable  and  eminent  talent  for 
mechanical  work.  When  a  year  or  so  after  his  arrival  he 
bought  himself  a  piece  of  timber-land  near  the  Engelmanns' 
and  built  a  neat  frame  house,  he  did  most  of  the  carpenter 
work  himself.  As  Decker  married  our  brave  sister  Caroline, 
I  may  have  to  say  more  about  them  both. 

Shortly  after  my  going  to  Kentucky,  my  old  and  intimate 
friend,  William  Weber,  having  escaped  from  prison,  found 
his  way  to  the  United  States  and  naturally  came  to  the  Engel- 
mann farm,  where  he  found  Friedrich,  whom  he  had  also 
known  well  at  Leipsic.  Another  gentleman,  Lindheimer,  from 
Frankfort,  a  scientist,  particularly  versed  in  botany,  a  friend 
of  Doctor  Engelmann,  had  also  paid  a  visit  to  the  farm. 
Friedrich  had  concluded  that  farming  in  Illinois,  where  help 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  369 

was  scarce  and  dear,  and  where  the  farmer  himself  must  work 
hard,  was  not  to  his  liking.  He  turned  his  eyes  to  Mexico  and 
persuaded  Weber,  Decker  and  Minis  to  make  up  a  party  for 
Mexico  and  to  start  or  to  buy  there  a  coffee  plantation.  Lind- 
heimer  also  joined  the  company,  and  in  spite  of  the  advice  of 
their  friends  in  the  settlement,  they  left  for  New  Orleans. 
Friedrich  was  a  man  of  means,  and  the  others  would  princi- 
pally have  to  rely  on  him.  For  some  reason  that  I  never 
learned,  Weber,  Decker  and  Minis  gave  up  the  enterprise  at 
New  Orleans,  and  towards  Christmas,  1834,  surprised  the 
Engelmanns  by  their  return.  Friedrich  and  Lindheimer 
went  on.  Friedrich  bought  a  coffee  plantation  in  Mirrador, 
and  wrote  me  several  letters  in  1835  and  1836  inviting  me 
strongly  to  visit  him.  He  returned  in  1840  to  the  United 
States,  remaining,  however,  in  the  East,  and,  I  believe,  after 
1848  went  back  to  Germany.  Schreiber  had  gone  to  St.  Louis 
and  taken  a  clerkship  in  a  French  liquor-house.  Sometime 
afterwards,  he  engaged  in  an  expedition  of  the  American  Fur 
Company  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  did  not  return  for 
many  years,  living  as  a  hunter  and  trapper  amongst  the  In- 
dians. He  wrote  a  very  interesting  and  humorous  account 
of  his  explorations  and  adventures,  and  while  formerly  he  had 
been  of  rather  delicate  health,  he  was  now  stout  and  robust. 
St.  Clair  County  attracted  him.  He  bought  a  farm  near 
Mascoutah,  and  married;  but  the  change  of  life  and  climate 
was  too  much  for  him.  He  died  some  three  or  four  years  after 
his  return  of  pneumonia.  In  him,  I  lost  a  friend  of  whom  I 
had  always  been  very  fond. 

ACCESSIONS  TO  THE  GERMAN  SETTLEMENT 

Our  German  settlement  had  received  some  very  excellent 
accessions.  Dr.  Adolph  Reuss,  of  a  highly  respectable  family 
of  Frankfort,  and  married  to  a  lovely  woman,  (a  sister  of  my 
friend,  Doctor  Jucho,  who  in  1848  was  first  secretary  of  the 
German  Reichstag,  and  had  before  been  imprisoned  for  years 
in  the  fortress  of  Mayence  after  the  third  of  April,)  and 


370  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Dr.  Anton  Schott,  who  had  been  professor  of  history  at  the 
Frankfort  College,  with  his  wife,  had  in  the  meantime  come 
to  the  United  States.  After  examining  places  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Ohio,  Missouri  and  Illinois,  Shiloh  valley  took  them 
captive,  and  they  bought  a  beautiful  large  farm  with  good 
buildings  adjoining  Ledergerber 's.  Most  probably  it  was  the 
German  society  which  they  found  settled  in  the  valley  that 
determined  their  choice.  As  Doctor  Engelmann  had  been 
away  much  during  the  summer  of  1835  in  Arkansas  and  Louis- 
iana, and  in  the  fall  had  moved  to  St.  Louis,  the  neighborhood 
of  an  eminent  physician  was  of  course  very  acceptable  to  the 
Engelmanns ;  while,  in  every  respect,  the  society  of  well-edu- 
cated, right-minded  and  warm-hearted  people  could  not  but 
be  highly  agreeable  to  the  whole  settlement. 

A  very  old,  buoyant  and  sociable  friend,  August  Conradi, 
from  Augsburg,  who  had  been  with  me  at  Munich  studying 
medicine,  had  also  made  his  escape  from  prison  and  had 
come  to  our  settlement,  living  at  Hilgard's,  but  coming,  of 
course,  very  often  to  the  old  farm.  Theodore  Kraft  had  gone 
to  Belleville  with  a  view  of  studying  law,  had  bought  himself 
a  collection  of  law-books,  but  very  soon  gave  up  the  idea, 
became  a  clerk  in  a  store,  and  in  a  short  time  went  into  part- 
nership with  an  American  from  Virginia,  establishing  a  large 
business,  which  flourished  for  several  years,  but  succumbed 
like  so  many  other  business-houses  on  the  setting  in  of  the 
financial  crisis  of  1840. 

Staying  at  the  farm  with  Sophie,  surrounded  by  the  fam- 
ily which,  next  to  my  own,  I  loved  best,  and  by  old  and  tried 
friends  of  my  youth,  would  certainly  have  been  delightful.  I 
might  have  pursued  there  my  law-studies  up  to  the  time  I  was 
admitted  a  member  of  the  bar.  The  session  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  at  which  the  judges  had  to  examine  the  candidates,  was 
over  when  I  returned,  and  the  next  session  was  to  be  in  June. 
But  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  avoid  all  distractions  and  to  con- 
fine myself  exclusively  to  study.  I  remembered  a  sentence  in 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  371 

one  of  Bulwer 's  novels,  where  it  is  said :     "To  aspire  is  to  be 
alone. ' ' 

After  a  few  days  on  the  farm  I  went  to  Belleville,  rented 
an  office  on  the  public  square,  the  place  now  covered  by  the 
stately  Penn  Building,  procured  some  additional  law-books 
and  worked  hard.  When  the  spring  courts  commenced,  I  went 
again  to  Madison  County,  paid  the  closest  attention  to  the 
proceedings,  and  did  the  same  in  St.  Glair  County.  In  Madi- 
son I  bought  me  a  fine  young  horse,  four  years  old,  not  quite 
fully  broken,  from  Julius  Barnsbach,  Jr.,  a  German  pioneer, 
who  with  his  uncle  and  some  other  relatives  had  settled  some 
ten  years  previously  near  Edwardsville.  Barnsbaeh  was  then 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  soon  became  quite  an  important 
man,  doing  a  large  business  as  a  merchant  in  Edwardsville, 
after  having  rented  his  very  fine  farm.  As  I  rode  my  horse 
several  hours  every  evening  after  the  day's  work  was  done, 
he  soon  became  an  excellent  saddle-horse  and  the  favorite  of 
the  family. 

AN  EXAMINATION  AT  THE  ILLINOIS  BAR,  IN  1835 

At  last  the  day  arrived  for  the  meeting  of  the  Supreme 
Court  at  Vandalia,  then  the  capital  of  Illinois.  On  a  beauti- 
ful June  morning  I  left  Belleville,  rode  the  first  day  as  far 
as  Greenville  in  Bond  County,  a  distance  of  forty-four  miles, 
and  taking  an  early  start  next  day  reached  Vandalia,  twenty 
miles  distant,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Vandalia 
had  been  made  the  capital  in  the  year  1820.  It  had  been  orig- 
inally laid  out  by  a  Mr.  Ernst,  the  leader  of  a  small  colony  of 
Hanoverians,  the  members  of  which  had  settled  in  1819  on 
farms  around  the  place  now  made  the  capital.  They  were  most- 
ly men  of  means,  and  Mr.  Ernst  was  a  well  educated  man.  The 
locality  was  at  the  time  not  badly  chosen.  There  were  some 
fine  prairies,  not  too  large,  and  plenty  of  first-rate  timber 
lining  the  Kaskaskia  River.  After  the  State  House  was  built, 
Vandalia  rapidly  improved.  All  the  State  officers  had  to 
reside  there.  The  United  States  Court  with  its  officers  was 


372  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

also  located  there,  as  well  as  the  United  States  Land  Office, 
through  which  the  unsold  government  lands  were  to  be  pur- 
chased. Vandalia  was  besides  the  county  seat  of  Fayette 
County,  which  required  the  officers  of  the  Circuit  Court  and 
the  County  Court  and  many  other  employees  of  the  county 
to  reside  there.  Vandalia,  being  far  from  any  market,  became 
a  market-place  in  itself  for  many  counties  around  it.  Its 
merchants  would  buy  corn  and  tobacco,  —  a  great  deal  of 
which  was  at  that  time  raised  in  southern  Illinois,  —  oats, 
potatoes,  deer  and  other  skins,  honey  and  butter,  and  ship 
them  in  the  spring  down  the  Kaskaskia  River,  which 
was  navigable  for  flat-boats.  This  produce  was  sold  —  as  well 
as  the  flat-boats  —  in  New  Orleans  at  great  profit,  the  farmers 
being  paid  by  the  merchants  mostly  in  goods  at  a  very  high 
figure.  Comparatively  small  as  Vandalia  was,  yet  there  was, 
owing  to  these  circumstances,  considerable  wealth  there,  and 
much  good,  intelligent  society. 

I  put  up  at  the  principal  tavern  of  the  place  —  in  Ameri- 
can slang  a  "one-horse  concern" — and  at  once  inquired  for 
A.  P.  Field,  who  was  then  Secretary  of  State,  and  to  whom 
Captain  Snyder  had  given  me  a  letter  of  introduction.  The 
tavern  was  right  opposite  the  State  House  in  the  middle  of  a 
large  square,  which  was  enclosed  by  a  plank  fence,  on  top 
of  which  was  a  small  slanting  board.  The  State  House  was  a 
tolerably  large  two-story  brick  building,  without  any  orna- 
ments, except  a  sort  of  steeple  in  which  a  bell  hung.  The  style 
of  the  building  was  the  Pennsylvania  big-barn  style.  The 
landlord  pointed  towards  the  square,  saying:  "There  sits 
your  man."  Sure  enough,  on  the  top  board  of  the  fence  sat 
Colonel  Field,  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken  as  having  met 
him  at  Edwardsville.  He  was  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  had  no  col- 
lar, necktie  or  vest  on,  and  wore  brownish  linen  trousers  and 
a  pair  of  leather  slippers.  He  was  talking  to  another  person, 
who  was  lazily  leaning  against  the  enclosure.  I  crossed  over. 
"Colonel  Field,  I  believe?"  "Yes,  Sir."  I  then  handed  him 
my  letter  while  he  slipped  down  from  his  perch.  He  shook 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  373 

hands  very  cordially,  was  very  glad  to  see  me,  had  heard  of 
me  before  —  which  probably  was  not  true  —  and  would  take 
very  great  pleasure  in  introducing  me  to  the  judges.  They 
were  still  in  session  and  would  come  over  for  dinner,  when  he 
would  make  me  acquainted  with  them.  Going  back  to  the 
tavern,  I  found  a  gentleman,  a  few  years  younger  than  I,  who 
had  just  arrived  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  State.  He  was 
a  stout,  good-looking  man,  gave  me  his  name  as  Isaac  M. 
Walker,  and  said  he  had  also  come  to  be  examined  for  a 
license. 

Not  long  afterwards,  the  dinner  bell,  hanging  on  a  large 
post  before  the  house,  was  rung.  This  was  then  in  all  smaller 
towns  and  villages  the  manner  of  notifying  people  that  dinner 
would  soon  be  ready.  The  judges  with  Colonel  Field  came 
over.  An  introduction  having  taken  place,  we  were  told  to 
come  up  to  the  judges'  room  after  dinner,  when  they  would 
give  us  the  examination. 

We  went  up.  The  Supreme  Court  then  consisted  of  four 
judges,  of  whom,  however,  only  two  were  present,  —  the  Chief 
Justice,  William  Wilson,  and  Judge  Smith.  The  room  was 
whitewashed,  perfectly  bare  with  the  exception  of  two  bed- 
steads, a  deal  table  and  a  couple  of  chairs.  Wilson,  complain- 
ing of  being  sick,  was  stretched  on  one  of  the  beds,  held  a 
small  phial  of  medicine  in  his  hand  and  swallowed  once  or 
twice  in  the  course  of  the  conversation  a  few  drops.  It  was 
opium,  which  he  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  for  a  chronic  dis- 
ease of  the  stomach.  Judge  Smith  was  sitting  near  the  bed. 
It  was  a  warm  day  and  both  were  in  their  shirt-sleeves. 

Wilson  was  from  Virginia.  He  must  have  been  a  very 
noble-looking  person  when  young,  but  his  health  was  evidently 
much  broken.  His  voice  had  an  unnatural,  cracked  sound. 
He  was  a  man  of  fine  education  and  a  good  lawyer,  and,  as  his 
opinions  will  show,  a  fine  writer.  It  was  said,  however,  that 
he  merely  jotted  his  ideas  down  on  small  slips  of  paper  and 
then  handed  them  to  an  amanuensis,  who  put  them  in  shape, 
Wilson  revising  the  composition. 


374  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENER 

Judge  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  an  excellent  lawyer,  a  man 
of  fine  talents  and  appearance,  but  of  a  rather  ambitious  and 
intriguing  character,  whom  I  have  mentioned  before,  was  the 
other  judge.  Justices  Lockwood  and  Brown  were  absent. 
Brown  was  said  to  have  been  at  one  time  a  good  lawyer,  but 
if  so,  he  must  have  forgotten  what  he  knew.  He  was  a  large, 
portly  man  of  great  levity  of  character,  and  in  his  widower- 
days  a  great  ladies '  man,  fond  of  gossip,  an  epicure,  and  never 
refusing  to  drink  with  anyone.  He  was  a  plausible  man,  with 
engaging  Southern  manners,  and  popular  with  the  crowd. 
Judge  Loekwood,  from  the  State  of  New  York,  was  very  tall 
and  very  thin,  held  himself  very  erect,  and,  though  at  the  time 
hardly  more  than  forty-five  years  of  age,  had  thick,  stiff  snow- 
white  hair.  His  complexion  was  dark,  his  eyes  black  and  of 
brilliant  lustre.  He  made  the  impression  of  an  intellectual, 
benignant  person.  An  excellent  lawyer,  he  was  clear-headed, 
conscientious  and  eminently  just.  His  health  appeared  to 
be  very  poor. 

I  have  been  somewhat  particular  in  delineating  the  per- 
sons of  these  judges,  inasmuch  as  ten  years  afterwards,  the 
judicial  system  having  been  changed,  I  myself  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Supreme  Court,  when  Wilson,  Brown  and  Lockwood 
were  still  on  the  bench,  and  having  had  then  to  associate 
intimately  with  them,  I  thus  had  the  best  opportunity  of  form- 
ing an  opinion  of  their  character. 

The  examination  lasted  hardly  more  than  half  an  hour. 
Mr.  Walker  seemed  to  have  given  but  little  time  to  the  study 
of  law;  nevertheless,  Judge  Wilson,  in  his  sepulchral  voice, 
said  that  they  would  give  us  certificates  upon  which  the  clerk 
of  the  court  would  issue  us  licenses.  Judge  Smith  wrote  them 
out,  and  as  it  was  time  for  going  into  court  again,  we  all  went 
downstairs,  and,  in  passing  the  bar  which  was  at  one  end  of 
the  hall  on  the  lower  floor,  my  friend  Walker  invited  the  com- 
pany to  take  a  drink.  The  bar-keeper  mixed  us  four  brandy 
toddies,  we  touched  glasses,  bowed  and  drank,  Walker  paying 
the  bill.  We  went  over  to  the  State  House  and  the  clerk 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  375 

filled  out  the  licenses,  charging  a  dollar  for  each.  We  shook 
hands  with  the  judges  and  went  back  to  the  tavern.  I  had 
already  ordered  my  horse  and  started  for  home  at  a  good  trot. 

Walker  afterwards  became  a  competitor  of  mine  for  office, 
but  was  not  chosen.  Some  years  after  1840  he  left  Illinois, 
went  to  Wisconsin,  settled  in  Milwaukee,  practised  law,  specu- 
lated in  land,  then  on  a  great  rise,  became  rich,  was  a  leading 
Democrat,  got  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and 
played  quite  a  conspicuous  part  there. 

Leaving  Vandalia  about  three  o'clock,  and  getting  to 
Greenville  too  early  to  stop,  I  proceeded  about  ten  miles 
farther  south  to  Sugar  Creek,  resting  there  over  night  at  a  fine 
farm ;  and,  leaving  early  in  the  morning,  I  reached  the  Engel- 
mann  farm  only  half  a  mile  out  of  my  way  to  Belleville  soon 
after  dinner,  making  the  sixty-five  miles  to  Vandalia  and  sixty 
miles  back  from  there  to  the  farm  in  two  days  and  a  half, 
including  the  time  spent  in  Vandalia. 

On  the  farm  they  were  much  astonished  at  my  early 
arrival.  They  first  thought  I  had  met  with  an  accident  and 
had  not  reached  Vandalia.  The  first  day  I  had  made  forty- 
five  miles,  the  second,  fifty,  and  the  third  half  day,  thirty 
miles.  I  felt  very  proud  of  my  splendid  little  horse. 

While  riding  back  I  was  musing  in  my  mind  over  the 
contrast  of  this  examination  with  my  former  ones.  In  Heidel- 
berg four  of  the  greatest  lights  of  jurisprudence  in  Germany 
were  sitting  around  a  large  round  table  with  a  place  for  me  as 
the  candidate.  We  were  all  in  evening  dress.  The  examina- 
tion, carried  on  in  Latin,  lasted  four  hours.  After  a  short 
retirement  I  was  called  in  again  by  a  uniformed  university 
official,  and  was  congratulated  by  the  dean,  Professor  Thibaut, 
as  Doctor  Utriusque  Juris,  whereupon  we  walked  into  the  din- 
ing-room and  ate  a  sumptuous  dinner,  costing  with  the  wines 
—  Rhine  wine  and  champagne  —  about  twenty  dollars.  Walk- 
er's  treat  in  Vandalia  totalled  twenty-five  cents.  In  Frank- 
fort there  was  no  dinner;  but  the  examination  by  the  supreme 
judges,  two  in  number,  all  in  black,  lasted  two  hours,  and  was 


376  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

held  in  one  of  the  lofty  chambers  of  the  old  Roemer,  where 
anciently  the  German  emperors,  after  coronation,  were  ban- 
queted. The  old  imperial  building,  and  the  one-horse  tavern 
in  Vandalia  kept  by  an  Irishman,  whose  normal  state  was 
drunkenness,  —  what  a  change  of  historical  stage-setting ! 

FIRST    LAW-CASE 

I  now  commenced  my  practice  in  good  earnest.  The 
spring  sessions  of  the  court  in  the  circuit  were  over,  and  the 
fall  sessions  commenced  the  latter  part  of  August.  But  peo- 
ple came  for  advice ;  I  had  to  write  deeds  and  contracts.  My 
first  case  of  any  importance  was  before  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
Squire  John  Murray,  and  created  some  sensation.  As  it  was 
my  debut,  I  may  be  pardoned  for  giving  it  hi  detail. 

About  a  mile  from  Mr.  George  Bunsen 's  farm  lived  two 
trifling  young  men  on  a  small  rented  place,  with  their 
mother.  They  were  lazy  and  raised  nothing  but  a  little  corn, 
and  had  a  truck  patch  around  their  little  cabin.  Their  main 
business  was  to  hunt,  and  they  kept  a  brace  of  hounds  of  a 
very  vicious  character.  These  dogs  used  to  run  out  into  the 
prairie,  where  the  horses  and  the  cattle  of  the  neighbors  had 
their  pasturing  range,  would  chase  and  worry  them,  so  that 
very  often  the  cattle  came  running  home  in  an  exhausted  state, 
and  even  showing  marks  of  dog  bites.  Bunsen  's  horses  had  been 
repeatedly  so  chased  and  worried,  and  when  he  had  remon- 
strated with  the  boys,  or  old  woman,  he  was  met  with  insol- 
ence or  curses.  One  time  the  horses  had  been  run  home  by  the 
dogs,  and  Bunsen  and  Berchelmann  concluded  to  make  an 
end  of  it.  So  they  went  over  to  the  boys'  farm,  found  the 
dogs  inside  of  the  fence,  and  shot  them.  One  of  the  boys, 
who  claimed  to  be  the  owner  of  the  hounds,  sued  Mr.  Bunsen 
for  the  value  of  the  hounds  to  the  amount  of  fifty  dollars. 
Mr.  Bunsen  employed  me  to  defend  him.  The  question  was 
whether  the  shooting  was  justifiable?  Had  they  shot  the 
dogs  in  the  act  of  running  and  worrying  their  horses,  they 
would  have  been  merely  protecting  their  property.  But  the 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  377 

dogs  had  gone  back  and  were  at  their  home,  and  the  shooting 
took  place  some  hours,  perhaps  a  day,  afterwards.  Here  was 
the  weakness  of  our  case. 

A  jury  was  called,  and  Captain  Adam  W.  Snyder  was 
for  the  boys.  A  good  many  witnesses  were  present.  In  a 
place  so  small  as  Belleville,  the  whole  town  had  learned  what 
was  going  on.  Snyder  was  the  foremost  lawyer,  and  this  was 
my  first  case.  In  a  word,  for  the  Belleville  people  this  dog 
case  was  a  cause  celebre.  The  office  of  the  squire  was  full  of 
spectators,  and  so  was  the  large  porch  before  the  office,  the 
windows  of  which  were  open.  Of  course  the  killing  was 
proved,  and  the  boys  had  a  set  of  equally  trifling  young  accom- 
plices who  swore  that  the  hounds  were  worth  at  least  $25.00 
apiece.  We  proved  the  vicious  character  of  the  dogs  by 
respectable  farmers,  and  also  their  having  chased  Mr.  Bun- 
sen's  horses  not  long  before  the  killing.  I  did  not  try  to  dis- 
prove their  value,  although  I  could  easily  have  done  so,  for  in 
such  cases,  if  one  goes  into  the  measure  of  damages,  the 
jurors  often  infer  that  you  are  guilty  and  wish  only  to  reduce 
the  amount. 

Captain  Snyder  made  quite  an  impressive  rhetorical 
speech.  "This,"  he  said,  "is  a  country  of  law.  No  man  is 
allowed  to  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands.  If  the  defendant 
had  been  injured  by  the  dogs,  which  he  was  not  willing  to 
admit,"  he  cautiously  added,  "the  doors  of  the  temple  of 
justice  stood  wide  open  for  his  redress.  He  could  have  sued 
the  complainant,  and  if  he  could  have  proved  his  case,  which, 
however,  he  believed  he  had  not  proved,  he  would  have  re- 
ceived ample  compensation  for  all  his  injuries.  The  defendant 
had  invaded  the  premises  of  the  old  lady  and  the  boys.  Every 
man's  house  was  his  castle  in  this  country.  True,  the  defen- 
dants were  rich  and  wore  broadcloth,  and  his  clients  were  poor 
and  wore  homespun.  But  in  this  country  the  law  made  no 
difference  between  rich  and  poor,  as  it  did  in  the  country 
where  these  gentlemen  came  from.  It  was  time  that  they 
should  be  taught  a  lesson;  that  in  this  great  and  glorious 


378  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

republic  all  were  alike  before  the  law;  and  he  hoped  that  the 
jury  in  this  case  would  teach  them  that  lesson,  by  giving  his 
clients  the  full  value  of  the  dogs  as  claimed  by  them." 

In  reply,  I  spoke  about  as  follows:  "I  thought  I  knew 
the  country  where  these  gentlemen  came  from  better  than 
the  counsel  for  the  complainant.  As  far  as  civil  rights  were 
concerned  they  were  there  as  well  protected  as  here,  and  no 
man  was  allowed  to  take  the  law  in  his  own  hands,  nor  was 
there  a  distinction  before  the  law  between  the  rich  and  poor. 
Judge  Lynch  was  an  unknown  person  there.  My  clients  had 
acted  in  protection  of  their  property.  Their  complaints  had 
been  trifled  with.  All  the  neighbors  had  been  equally  annoyed 
by  these  dogs.  The  counsel  had  been  somewhat  inconsistent 
in  his  argument.  He  had  spoken  of  the  ample  remedy  which 
the  defendant  would  have  had  if  he  had  gone  to  law  against 
his  clients,  while  at  the  same  time  he  had  appealed  to  the 
sympathy  of  the  jury  by  telling  them  that  his  clients  were 
very  poor,  wore  homespun,  and  lived  on  a  small  tract  of  land 
not  their  own.  Suppose  they  had  sued  and  got  a  judgment. 
They  would  have  found  no  other  property  than  these  very 
hounds.  I  would  ask  the  gentleman,  if  he  had  ever  heard  of 
a  sheriff  or  constable  levying  an  execution  on  a  dog."  This 
raised  considerable  laughter  in  the  crowd.  I  laid  great  stress 
on  the  bad  behavior  of  the  boys  and  the  old  woman  when  they 
had  been  repeatedly  requested  to  restrain  their  dogs. 

Captain  Snyder,  very  prudently,  in  his  concluding  speech 
apologized  for  the  language  which  he  had  applied  to  my 
clients,  spoke  of  the  Germans  as  an  excellent  people,  but  added 
that  unfortunately  they  had  not  made  themselves  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  the  American  laws. 

The  jury  was  out  a  good  while.  As  I  had  expected  and 
had  told  Mr.  Bunsen,  they  found  him  guilty,  but  awarded  only 
ten  dollars'  damages  for  the  two  dogs.  Of  course,  both  parties 
were  displeased.  After  paying  their  attorneys'  fees,  I  pre- 
sume there  was  nothing  left  for  the  boys  and  the  old  woman. 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  379 

They  had  lost  their  hounds  and  in  the  end  had  got  nothing 
for  them.  The  case  was  the  town  talk  for  a  great  while. 

I  could  now  have  got  many  small  cases  before  justice 
courts,  but  under  one  pretext  or  another  I  usually  declined 
them.  After  practicing  for  a  few  years  I  was  never  more 
applied  to  for  justice  court  trials,  and  I  do  not  believe  that 
even  before  that  time  I  had  half  a  dozen  such  cases. 

At  the  August  term  of  the  St.  Clair  Court,  I  had  several, 
though  mostly  light,  criminal  cases.  In  a  larceny  case  of 
some  importance  I  was  appointed  by  the  court  together  with 
Governor  Reynolds  to  defend  the  criminal.  I  think  we  suc- 
ceeded in  having  him  acquitted.  My  diary  does  not  disclose 
the  result. 

In  September  I  returned  very  late  from  St.  Louis  to 
Belleville  through  the  damp  American  Bottom.  Next  morn- 
ing I  felt  pains  in  all  my  limbs.  It  being  Saturday,  I  rode 
out  to  the  farm  in  the  evening,  but  unfortunately  was  over- 
taken by  a  violent  thunder-storm  which  wetted  me  to  the 
skin,  and  the  next  morning  I  was  seized  with  the  regular 
long-dreaded  fever  and  ague,  then  prevailing  to  an  alarm- 
ing extent.  I  was  kept  from  work  a  week  or  so,  and  then  did 
not  feel  well  enough  to  visit  the  courts  in  the  other  counties 
of  the  circuit.  Still  I  had  a  good  deal  of  office-business. 
After  a  very  pleasant  and  large  party  at  Mr.  Hilgard's, 
returning  late  in  the  night,  I  had  a  relapse  of  the  fever  and 
ague,  but  it  passed  off  quickly,  and  I  spent  the  fall  and  winter 
of  the  year  1835  quite  pleasantly. 

EUROPEAN   POLITICS   IN   1835 

This  was,  however,  in  many  respects  an  eventful  year  in 
the  history  of  both  continents.  In  Germany,  political  prosecu- 
tions continued  with  great  vigor.  Ministerial  conferences 
were  held  and  laws  were  passed  by  the  Diet  destroying  the 
liberty  of  the  press  and  restricting  the  power  of  the  legisla- 
tures of  the  different  states  to  such  an  extent  that  they  left 
everything  to  the  wills  of  the  kings  and  princes  under  the 


380  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

supervision  of  the  Diet.  Prussia  had  become  a  mere  tool 
in  the  hands  of  Metternich  and  of  the  Czar  of  Russia,  the 
latter  also  exercising  through  family  relations  an  almost 
supreme  power  over  some  of  the  minor  States  of  the  German 
Confederation.  The  revolution  in  Spain,  upsetting  the  arbi- 
trary government,  alarmed  the  despotic  powers.  The  Czar, 
the  King  of  Prussia  and  Emperor  of  Austria  met.  War  was 
considered  imminent,  but  without  France,  which  had  acted 
as  the  executioner  of  the  Holy  Alliance  in  Spain  some  ten 
years  before,  the  northern  powers  could  do  nothing,  and  Louis 
Philippe,  whatever  his  own  views  might  have  been,  could  not 
risk  his  own  throne  by  interfering  in  Spain.  France  itself 
was  in  a  state  of  great  disturbance,  Republicans  as  well  as 
Bonapartists  having  formed  powerful  secret  societies.  At  the 
anniversary  of  the  taking  of  the  Bastile,  in  July,  1835,  the 
Corsican  Fieschi  made  an  attempt  on  the  king's  life,  by  firing 
from  the  second  story  of  a  house  on  the  Boulevard  a  roughly 
constructed  infernal  machine,  built  on  the  plan  of  the  sub- 
sequently invented  mitrailleuse.  The  King  at  the  head  of  a 
military  suite  was  passing  by  and  Marshal  Mortier,  the  Due  de 
Previso,  with  some  twenty  other  persons  were  instantly  killed, 
and  several  others  wounded;  the  King  himself  escaped,  being 
only  lightly  wounded  on  the  forehead.  Under  the  terror  of 
this  Attentat  most  stringent  laws  were  passed  regarding  the 
press,  public  meetings,  etc.  As  Fieschi,  a  notorious  criminal, 
had  no  communication  with  any  of  the  parties,  but  acted  out 
of  spite  and  despair,  it  was  plain  that  his  deed  had  been 
merely  made  a  pretext  for  these  reactionary  measures,  and  the 
opposition  to  the  Orleans  government  became  alarmingly 
strong. 

But  the  most  extraordinary  changes  took  place  in  Spain. 
Since  the  death  of  Ferdinand  the  Seventh  and  the  succession 
of  the  child  Isabella  the  Second,  under  the  regency  of  her 
mother,  Christina,  civil  war  had  raged  there.  Don  Carlos, 
brother  of  the  deceased  Ferdinand,  claimed  the  throne  under 
the  Salic  law.  Many  battles  were  fought,  with  varying  sue- 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  381 

cess.  Christina  had  thrown  herself  into  the  hands  of  the 
Conservative  party.  But  in  1835  some  of  the  principal  cities, 
Barcelona,  Seville,  and  others  had  declared  against  her  min- 
istry and  demanded  a  Liberal  constitution.  In  fact,  Arra- 
gon,  Catalonia,  and  Andalusia  had  appointed  juntas  who 
took  the  government  into  their  own  hands.  The  greatest 
excitement  existed  against  the  clerical  party.  In  many 
cities,  also  in  Madrid,  all  the  convents  of  monks  were  sacked 
and  burnt  down  and  a  great  many  monks  massacred.  Since 
that  time  there  have  been  no  more  monasteries  in  Spain,  and 
but  very  few  nunneries,  and  those  merely  of  an  educational 
character.  The  Queen  Regent  had  to  yield.  A  new  consti- 
tution was  granted,  and  many  of  the  old  Liberals  of  the  war 
against  Napoleon,  such  as  Mina,  Tallifax,  Arguilles  and  others 
received  high  appointments.  As  stated  before,  Louis  Philippe 
would  not  join  the  northern  powers,  but  in  connection  with 
England  by  furnishing  money  and  by  allowing  foreign  legions 
to  be  formed,  supported  the  Christines. 

It  appears  from  my  diary  that  I  paid  close  attention 
to  these  events  in  Spain,  noting  the  changes  of  the  Ministry 
and  the  action  of  the  Cortes  with  great  particularity,  and 
adding  many  reflections.  Had  I  a  presentment  that  Spain 
would  in  a  future  time  become  the  subject  of  my  peculiar 
study  and  the  scene  of  my  own  activity  at  least  for  some 
time? 

POLITICAL  SITUATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

For  the  United  States  this  same  year  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable.  Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before.  By 
a  treaty  made  with  France  in  1832,  she  was  to  pay  to  the 
United  States  five  million  dollars'  indemnity  arising  from 
claims  for  damages  suffered  during  the  war  between  England 
and  France.  The  first  installment  was  to  be  paid  in  1834,  but 
the  French  Chamber  refused  to  make  an  appropriation  for 
the  money,  for  the  reason  that  their  government  ought  first  to 
have  consulted  the  Chamber  before  making  the  treaty.  In  his 


382 

message  at  the  opening  of  Congress,  President  Jackson  had 
laid  the  matter  before  Congress,  leaving  it  to  them  to  adopt 
proper  measures  for  obtaining  justice,  proposing,  however, 
to  make  reprisals  on  all  French  property  found  in  the  United 
States,  should  our  just  demands  be  disregarded. 

By  many,  even  of  Jackson's  friends,  it  was  believed  that 
the  President  had  gone  too  far.  Whig  papers  attacked  him 
and  charged  him  with  wanting  to  provoke  a  war.  The  com- 
mittee of  the  Senate  on  foreign  relations,  Henry  Clay  being 
chairman,  reported  strongly  against  Jackson's  suggestion. 
The  House  did  nothing.  But  the  message  created  a  terrible 
hubbub  in  France.  The  press  came  out  strongly  for  war, 
and  in  the  Chamber  fiery  speeches  were  made,  and  the  appro- 
priation was  again  refused.  Our  press  retaliated,  and  those 
who  did  not  understand  French  policy,  and  particularly  the 
peaceful  character  of  Louis  Philippe,  were  convinced  that 
war  was  to  follow.  When  the  French  minister  was  recalled 
from,  Washington  and  our  minister  from  France,  things  wore 
a  somewhat  warlike  look,  and  great  excitement  manifested  it- 
self all  over  the  country.  Jackson,  however,  in  another  message 
to  Congress  spoke  in  more  conciliatory  terms  about  the  mat- 
ter, and  the  French  Chambers  passed  the  appropriation  bill 
with  a  provision  that  the  United  States  should  first  declare 
that  it  had  not  intended  to  offend  the  French  nation.  Jackson 
peremptorily  refused  to  make  an  apology,  but  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  through  the  intervention  of  England,  the  matter 
was  settled  without  an  apology. 

A  far  more  serious  affair  loomed  up  on  our  southwestern 
frontier.  Texas,  one  of  the  States  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico, 
had  for  some  years  attracted  to  it  a  great  number  of  Ameri- 
can settlers.  Mexico  had  been  very  liberal  in  granting  gra- 
tuitously large  pieces  of  land  to  emigrants,  and  the  country, 
being  in  part  very  fertile  and  fit  for  raising  cotton,  had  offered 
great  inducements,  particularly  to  the  people  of  our  South- 
ern States.  Now  there  had  been  a  revolution  in  Mexico.  Gen- 
eral Santa  Anna  had  overturned  the  existing  constitution  of 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  383 

Mexico  and  converted  the  Federal  government  into  a  more 
centralized  one,  by  which  the  States  would  have  lost  their 
limited  sovereignty  and  would  have  been  converted  into  mere 
provinces  or  departments.  Some  Mexican  citizens  of  Texas 
were  opposed  to  this  coup  d'etat,  but  it  was  the  new  settlers, 
the  Americans,  who  were  most  active  in  their  opposition.  A 
convention  was  held.  Santa  Anna  was  denounced  as  a 
usurper,  a  provisional  government  was  formed,  and  inde- 
pendence declared  not  long  afterwards.  From  all  parts  of  the 
United  States,  but  principally  from  the  South,  volunteers 
flocked  to  Texas,  funds  were  raised,  ammunition  and  provis- 
ions furnished.  The  proclamation  of  the  President,  calling 
upon  the  people  to  remain  neutral,  the  instructions  to  the 
judicial  and  the  executive  officers  to  prosecute  any  violation 
of  the  neutrality  laws,  proved  wholly  ineffectual.  Public 
opinion  was  too  strong  to  be  overcome  by  paper  proclama- 
tions. It  was  at  once  manifest  that  if  Texas  sustained  her 
independence,  her  annexation  to  the  United  States  was  only 
a  question  of  time.  It  was  also  certain  that  she  would  intro- 
duce slavery  before  her  admission.  Of  course,  that  would 
strengthen  the  weight  of  the  Slave  States  in  Congress  and 
afford  a  splendid  market  for  slaves. 

While  these  proceedings  in  Texas  were  immensely  popu- 
lar in  the  Southern  and  even  in  many  of  the  Western  States, 
the  North  looked  upon  them  with  great  distrust.  While  a 
large  majority  of  the  Northern  people  did  not  seek  to  inter- 
fere with  slavery  at  all  where  it  constitutionally  existed,  they 
did  not  like  to  have  additional  Southern  States  added  to  the 
Union,  not  so  much  on  account  of  slavery  as  on  account  of 
these  States  being  all  agricultural  and  consequently  in  favor 
of  a  low  tariff  or  absolute  free  trade.  They  knew  that  inde- 
pendent Texas  was  bound  to  come  into  the  Union,  increasing 
thereby  the  Southern  weight  in  Congress. 

Events  in  the  Northern  and  Middle  States  during  the 
year,  of  far  deeper  import,  added  to  the  excitement  produced 
by  the  revolt  of  Texas.  These  States  had  got  rid  of  slavery 


384  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

by  selling  their  slaves  south  and  also  by  constitutional  and 
legislative  enactments.  In  the  course  of  years  it  was  but 
natural  that  slavery,  as  it  was  protected  by  the  Constitution, 
should  become  a  theme  of  agitation.  The  efforts  for  coloniz- 
ing free  negroes  in  Africa,  made  under  the  auspices  of  some 
of  the  leading  statesmen,  North  and  South,  and  having  been  a 
pet  scheme  of  Henry  Clay,  had  failed.  It  was  denounced  by 
northern  philanthropists  as  a  cunning  device  to  unload  the 
free  negroes,  the  element  considered  in  the  South  as  the  most 
dangerous,  into  Africa,  leaving  slavery  really  untouched,  and 
also  as  a  means  to  stifle  slavery  agitation  in  the  North.  A 
most  bitter  contest  had  sprung  up  between  the  abolitionists 
and  the  adherents  of  the  colonization  plan. 

In  England,  societies  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
colonies  had  been  formed.  They  had  brought  about,  not  long 
before,  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  in  their  West  India 
colonies.  Some  members  of  the  societies  had  come  over  to  this 
country  to  propagate  their  views.  Abolition  societies  were 
soon  established  here  and  also  journals  advocating  immediate 
and  absolute  emancipation.  At  first  these  societies  kept  within 
the  constitutional  limits.  Congress  having  full  power  and  jur- 
isdiction over  the  territories  of  the  United  States,  the  efforts 
of  the  Abolitionists  were  directed  principally  to  induce  that 
body  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  other 
territories.  Petitions  to  that  effect  were  widely  signed  and  sent 
to  Congress.  They  were  received  and  referred  to  committees, 
but  no  action  was  taken  upon  them.  Very  soon,  however,  the 
Abolitionists  became  divided  among  themselves.  Some  did  not 
want  to  go  any  farther  than  to  have  slavery  abolished  where 
the  Constitution  formed  no  obstacles.  But  the  more  radical 
part  made  light  of  the  Constitution.  They  denounced  it  as  an 
agreement  with  death  and  a  covenant  with  hell,  and  preached 
unconditional  abolition.  Their  papers  took  the  same  view. 
Numerous  tracts  were  published  painting  the  iniquities  of 
the  system  in  the  most  glowing  colors,  appealing  to  the  con- 
science of  the  slave-holders,  and  denouncing  the  Southern 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  385 

clergy  who  had  undertaken  to  justify  slavery  by  the  Bible  as 
recreants  to  true  Christianity.  These  tracts  were  sent  by  thou- 
sands into  the  Southern  States.  Of  course  the  Southern  peo- 
ple became  highly  excited,  meetings  were  held ;  the  Abolitionists 
denounced  as  fiends  of  the  white  race,  preaching  doctrines 
which  would  naturally  excite  slave-insurrections  and  expose 
the  South  to  the  murderous  outrages  the  whites  had  suffered 
in  Hayti.  Packages  supposed  to  contain  incendiary  tracts 
were  taken  out  of  the  post-offices  by  mobs,  and  the  people  went 
to  other  extremes  in  retaliating  on  the  fanaticism  of  the  North. 

WILLIAM  LLOYD  GARRISON 

But  it  was  not  the  South  alone  that  was  alarmed.  The 
fear  of  the  North  losing  the  trade  of  the  South,  and  the  appre- 
hension that  this  agitation  might  break  up  the  Union,  set  a 
vast  majority  of  the  Northern  people  without  distinction  of 
party  against  the  Abolitionists.  A  building  in  which  an  Abo- 
lition meeting  was  announced  to  be  held  was  demolished  by  a 
mob  in  Philadelphia.  In  some  places,  in  New  York  and  other 
states,  Abolition  meetings  were  broken  up,  and  the  partici- 
pators roughly  handled.  In  the  staid  Puritan  city  of  Boston 
a  ladies '  Abolition  meeting  was  broken  up  by  what  the  papers 
called  the  most  respectable  and  gentlemanly  mob  ever  seen. 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  the  most  prominent  leader  of  the 
radical  wing  of  the  Abolition  party,  who  had  addressed  the 
meeting,  was  dragged  out  of  the  house,  with  a  rope  around  his 
neck,  and,  while  the  mayor  and  some  other  officers  were  taking 
hold  of  him,  to  save  his  life,  his  clothing  was  torn  off  him,  and 
being  put  in  a  carriage  he  was  taken  for  safety  to  the  jail 
amidst  the  howling  of  a  furious  mob  who  wanted  to  take  him 
out  of  the  carriage  and  lynch  him.  He  was  of  course  set  free 
next  morning,  under  a  promise  to  leave  town.  The  Northern 
press,  with  but  few  exceptions,  justified,  excused,  or  extenu- 
ated the  mob.  Such  was  public  feeling  even  in  the  North  at 
that  time. 


386  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

William  Lloyd  Garrison  was  a  visionary,  a  fanatic,  it 
might  be  said,  on  the  slavery  question.  He  certainly  did 
more  harm  than  good  at  that  period.  He  was,  however,  an 
honest  enthusiast,  fully  in  earnest  and  ready  to  sacrifice  his 
all  for  the  cause  he  had  espoused,  and  a  model  husband  and 
father,  generous  to  the  poor,  and  of  an  unimpeachable  char- 
acter. It  was  not  till  later  that  I  learned  his  true  character; 
for,  when  he  became  through  his  highly  intellectual  and 
very  charming  daughter  Fanny,  who  married  Henry  Hil- 
gard-Villard,  a  cousin  of  Sophie,  somewhat  nearly  related 
to  our  family,  I  took  more  interest  in  making  myself  ac- 
quainted with  his  life  and  his  almost  superhuman,  though  ill- 
directed,  efforts  to  abolish  slavery. 

NEW   ARRIVALS 

The  last  night  of  the  year,  we  had  a  highly  enjoyable 
time.  All  our  friends  and  relatives  had  been  invited  to  Theo- 
dore Hilgard's  place  to  celebrate  New  Year's.  The  Hilgards 
had  invited  some  friends  from  St.  Louis,  and  I  went  over  to 
get  them.  Only  two  of  the  party,  however,  were  ready  to  go, 
the  weather  and  roads  being  abominable:  these  were  Miss 
Anna  Ulrici  and  her  brother  Rudolph.  Anna  was  one  of  the 
most  perfect  beauties  that  I  had  ever  met,  about  eighteen 
years  old,  lustrous  large  black  eyes,  splendid  black  hair,  ele- 
gant figure,  and  finely  chiseled  features.  She  and  her  sister 
Clara,  afterwards  Mrs.  Wolf,  were  then  considered  the  reign- 
ing belles  of  St.  Louis.  I  had  a  hard  time  driving  through  the 
American  Bottom.  The  road  was  impassable  in  most  places, 
being  an  actual  ditch  of  deep  mud.  Every  team  had  to  seek 
its  own  road  through  the  bushes  and  timber.  We  started  in 
a  two-horse,  light  spring  wagon  as  early  as  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  did  not  reach  the  Hilgard  place  —  twenty  miles 
—  until  late  in  the  evening.  Yet  we  were  in  time  for  the  sup- 
per and  ball.  It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  on  the  first 
of  January,  1836,  when  Sophie  and  I  and  some  of  the  Engel- 
manns  walked  home.  Beautiful  Anna  came  over  to  the  Engel- 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  387 

manns'  and  stayed  there  for  a  week  or  so  and  repeated  her 
visits  for  some  years.  In  1888,  not  having  seen  her  for  forty 
years,  I  met  her  in  St.  Louis.  The  brilliant  dark  eyes  were 
the  only  traces  of  her  once  ravishing  beauty.  Perhaps  some 
one  had  pointed  her  out  to  me  so  that  she  could  address  me, 
otherwise  I  doubt  very  much  whether  she  would  have  recog- 
nized me.  Sic  transit  gloria  mundi! 

The  year  1836  was  in  many  respects  one  full  of  interest- 
ing incidents,  and  to  me  the  most  eventful,  as  in  the  course  of 
it  I  became  united  to  my  dear  Sophie.  The  family  of  Mr. 
Theodore  Hilgard,  Sr.,  so  long  expected,  had  at  last  arrived  in 
St.  Louis  after  a  voyage  of  about  three  months  from  Havre 
to  New  Orleans.  I  and  Theodore  Kraft,  a  nephew  of  Mr.  Hil- 
gard, who  had  been  partly  educated  in  his  family,  went  over 
to  bid  them  welcome.  We  found  them  at  Mr.  Karsten's  fam- 
ily-hotel and,  as  it  happened,  they  were  all  in  one  room  when 
we  entered:  Mr.  Hilgard,  his  wife,  five  daughters  and  four 
sons.  I  have  traced  Mr.  Theodore  Hilgard 's  life  very  fully 
in  my ' '  German  Element, ' '  as  also  that  of  his  sons,  who  became 
distinguished  in  their  various  professions  to  a  very  high 
degree.  When  I  wrote  about  them,  however,  Julius  was  only 
assistant  superintendent  of  the  Coast  Survey,  but  soon  after- 
wards became  the  chief  of  that  great  bureau.  Unfortunately, 
his  health  failed  him  some  years  ago,  affecting  also  his  mental 
vigor  to  some  extent,  and  compelling  him  to  resign.  Mr. 
Theodore  Hilgard,  Sr.,  was  of  medium  height,  of  slender  build, 
and  some  forty-six  years  of  age.  His  complexion  was  very 
pale,  and  his  hair  gray.  His  unusually  high  forehead  was 
slightly  furrowed  and  his  finely  chiseled  features  showed  a 
man  who  thought  much  and  whose  intellectual  force  was  far 
greater  than  his  physical.  In  fact,  he  looked  at  that  time  in 
very  delicate  and  precarious  health.  A  profound  and  elegant 
jurist,  an  excellent  mathematician,  a  classical  scholar,  familiar 
with  the  modern  languages,  well  versed  in  ancient  and  modern 
literature,  with  a  really  surprising  knowledge  of  horticulture 
and  vine  culture,  serious  generally,  but  when  amongst  friends 


388  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

quite  sociable  and  entertaining,  he  was  certainly  a  character 
challenging  admiration.  Yet  as  Goethe  says:  "Where  there 
is  so  much  light,  there  is  also  much  shade."  Strictly  honest 
and  punctual  in  his  dealings  with  others,  he  was  very  exacting. 
He  was  what  the  Americans  call  "very  close"  in  all  money 
matters,  so  much  so  that  he  was  called  by  many  very  par- 
simonious. "While  no  doubt  he  expended  money  freely  to  give 
his  sons  a  superior  education,  he  was,  particularly  in  small 
matters,  often  amusingly  ungenerous.  He  loved  his  family 
no  doubt,  but  he  loved  himself  more.  His  comfort,  his  well- 
being,  was  his  principal  care.  "Tranchons  le  mot'7 — he  was 
an  egotist.  His  nerves  were  very  finely  strung,  and  he  was 
liable  to  lose  his  self-control  and  to  become  very  passionate  on 
very  trivial  occasions.  I  never  heard  any  complaint  from  any 
member  of  his  family,  but  that  they  must  have  frequently 
suffered  under  his  sudden  outbreaks  of  passion,  I  am  well 
aware. 

Mrs.  Hilgard  likewise  showed  marks  of  delicate  health, 
but  also  traces  of  uncommon  beauty.  She  was  a  most  amiable 
and  sweet  woman.  All  the  children  showed  intellect  and 
vivacity.  The  oldest  of  the  girls,  Emma,  then  engaged  to 
marry  Edward  Hilgard,  who  had  gone  to  Europe  the  year 
before  and  had  now  returned  with  the  family,  was  of  a  very 
delicate,  almost  spiritual  beauty,  which  did  not  indicate  strong 
health.  The  other  girls  were  also  very  charming.  They  were 
all  so  cordial  that  I  at  once  felt  myself  at  home  amongst  them. 

The  accession  of  such  a  highly  interesting  family  to  our 
colony  was  beyond  price.  They  settled  on  a  piece  of  land  on 
the  hills  of  Richland  Creek,  separated  only  by  that  streamlet 
from  the  town  limits,  and  covered  mostly  by  very  fine  and  tall 
timber,  but  also  containing  some  good  farm  lands.  The  dwell- 
ing-houses were,  according  to  the  times,  considered  very  com- 
modious, and  were  well  and  substantially  built.  A  beautiful 
large  lawn,  on  which  were  some  shade  trees,  a  spacious,  well 
laid  out  garden,  and  a  large  and  excellent  orchard  surrounded 
the  residence.  It  soon  became  the  center  of  attraction  for 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  389 

the  widespread  families  of  Engelmann  and  Hilgard  and  their 
friends,  and  "the  Hilgards  of  the  Mountain"  soon  formed  a 
most  important  link  in  the  social  life  of  Belleville. 

PRACTICE   OF   LAW 

In  the  latter  part  of  1835  Mr.  Snyder  proposed  to  take 
me  into  partnership  with  him  in  the  practice  of  law.  I  cheer- 
fully agreed  to  this  and  moved  into  his  new  and  handsome 
office,  at  the  corner  of  Public  Square  and  Illinois  Street.  Of 
course  the  partnership  was  not  quite  on  equal  terms,  but  I 
thought  it  an  advantage.  Besides,  I  had  really  become  very 
much  attached  to  him. 

Our  judiciary  system  having  been  changed  by  the  last 
Legislature,  the  supreme  court  judges  were  relieved  from 
holding  circuit,  and  nine  circuit  judges  were  appointed.  In 
Belleville,  Judge  Sidney  Breese  was  appointed  to  hold  the 
circuit.  The  terms  for  holding  it  were  also  changed.  Madison 
County  court  commenced  in  February.  Captain  Snyder  and 
I  went  on  a  very  raw  day  to  Edwardsville  on  horseback,  on 
the  Saturday  preceding  the  opening  of  court.  On  Sunday 
morning  he  was  taken  very  sick  with  an  attack  of  pneumonia. 
This  left  me  in  a  very  embarrassing  position.  We  had  many 
cases  on  the  docket,  but  I  knew  nothing  about  them.  Mr. 
Snyder  had  no  memorandum  and  was  too  sick  to  give  me  any 
information.  Some  important  ones  I  got  continued  on  account 
of  his  sickness ;  others  I  had  to  try  alone,  or  had  to  call  some 
one  in  to  assist  me.  The  next  week  at  Belleville,  I  had  to  en- 
counter almost  the  same  difficulty.  Most  of  the  cases  were 
continued.  Although  Mr.  Snyder  had  been  brought  back  to 
Belleville,  he  could  not  leave  his  bed,  and  I  had  to  go  down 
to  Monroe,  finding  myself  in  the  same  embarrassment. 

From  Waterloo  in  Monroe  County,  early  in  March,  Judge 
Breese,  Walter  B.  Scates,  then  States-Attorney,  and  myself 
started  in  a  snow-storm  down  to  Kaskaskia,  some  thirty-five 
miles  distant.  When  we  reached  the  Mississippi  Bottoms,  five 
miles  from  Kaskaskia,  the  roads  were  in  a  terrible  condition. 


390  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

We  came  several  times  very  near  miring  in  the  sloughs  and 
mud-holes.  Late  in  the  night  we  arrived  in  Kaskaskia,  stop- 
ped at  the  only,  very  poor  tavern  in  the  place,  and  all  three 
had  to  sleep  the  first  night  in  the  same  bed,  spoon-like,  all 
other  beds  in  the  same  house  having  been  already  occupied. 
Next  morning  it  turned  quite  cold,  and  the  court-house  was  a 
mere  barn,  without  fireplaces  and  with  some  of  the  window 
panes  broken.  Judge  Breese  sat  on  the  bench  in  his  great 
coat  with  a  silk  handkerchief  tied  round  his  head.  It  was  a 
dreadful  time  we  spent  there. 

KASKASKIA 

This  was  my  first  visit  to  that  historic  place,  founded  by 
French  missionaries  from  Canada  as  early  as  1673,  and  hav- 
ing been  the  capital  of  the  Territory  and  of  the  State  for  some 
years.  The  land-office  for  Southern  Illinois  was  still  there. 
A  large  and  handsome  Catholic  seminary  for  ladies  was  being 
erected,  which  became  very  popular,  and  many  young  ladies 
from  St.  Louis  and  other  places  in  Missouri,  besides  many 
from  Illinois,  attended  it.  The  old  citizens  had  made  a  great 
deal  of  money  by  trading  in  the  Territorial  times,  and  still 
more  by  speculation  in  land. 

Court  was  hurried  through,  and  I  did  not  become  ac- 
quainted with  many  people  there.  But  at  the  fall  session  I  did, 
and  I  may  as  well  say  something  more  about  this  interesting 
place,  as  it  then  appeared  to  me,  while  Kaskaskia  still  remained 
the  county  seat.  I  think  during  that  time,  until  the  high  water 
of  1844,  and  the  removal  of  the  county  seat  to  Chester,  Kas- 
kaskia, in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  con- 
tained the  best  society  in  the  State.  Judge  John  Pope,  United 
States  District  Judge,  with  his  family  resided  there.  He  had 
filled  important  offices,  had  represented  Illinois  Territory  in 
Congress,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  ablest  judges  in  the 
State.  On  the  bench  he  was  stern  and  unbending,  sometimes 
a  little  too  blunt;  perhaps  on  some  subjects  he  was  considered 
somewhat  prejudiced,  particularly  in  politics.  His  convictions 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  391 

were  so  firm  as  to  make  him  obstinate  and  rather  dogmatical. 
His  likes  and  dislikes  were  very  strong.  But  yet  his  integrity 
on  the  bench  was  undoubted.  He  hated  all  shams;  his  em- 
inently clear  and  discerning  mind  saw  through  a  case  at  once. 
Many  lawyers  I  knew  disliked  him.  Having  become  in  course 
of  time  very  well  acquainted  with  him  and  having  practiced 
before  him,  I  formed  a  high  opinion  of  him.  Maybe  I  was  a 
little  biased.  For  some  reason  or  other,  he  took,  from  the 
first  evening  I  spent  at  his  hospitable  house,  when  he  had  me 
for  a  partner  in  a  game  of  whist,  of  which  he  was  passionately 
fond,  a  warm  interest  in  me,  and  always  treated  me  with 
marked  kindness.  Being  a  Kentuckian,  he  was  a  staunch 
Henry  Clay  "Whig  and  hated  all  Democrats.  I  was  a  strong 
Democrat,  but  remember  distinctly  what  he  once  told  me  when 
I  defended  Van  Buren's  policy  in  1838  or  1840.  "Sir,"  said 
he,  in  his  Johnsonian  manner,  ' '  I  despise  a  young  man  who  is 
not  a  Democrat ;  but  a  man  of  forty  who  is  not  a  Whig  I  also 
despise. ' ' 

He  was  the  father  of  Gen.  John  Pope.  When  John,  who 
graduated  in  1842  at  West  Point,  was  only  the  ninth  on  the 
list,  I  was  told  that  the  Judge  burst  out  in  a  perfect  rage  that 
he  was  not  the  first.  Yet  the  number  was  a  very  good  one, 
and  young  Pope  was  at  once  made  lieutenant  of  the  corps  of 
topographical  engineers,  in  which  capacity  he  served  with 
great  credit  in  the  Mexican  War.  In  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion he  had  some  success  in  the  West,  but  was  very  unfortu- 
nate when  he  was  made  commander  of  the  Army  of  Virginia. 

Pierre  Menard,  a  Canadian  Frenchman,  was  one  of  the 
oldest  residents  of  Kaskaskia.  By  trade  he  had  accumulated 
a  considerable  fortune,  which  he  might  have  doubled  or  treb- 
led if  he  had  engaged  more  in  land  speculations  and  if  he  had 
been  less  honest.  He  was  a  small,  dark-complexioned  gentle- 
man of  great  vivacity  and  of  the  most  benevolent  and  public- 
spirited  character.  He  was  elected  Lieutenant-Governor  un- 
der the  first  State  Constitution  of  1818.  He  resided  in  a  fine 


392  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNEB 

mansion  in  the  midst  of  a  large  and  beautiful  pecan-grove 
right  across  the  river. 

William  Morrison,  at  the  time  of  my  first  visit  to  Kas- 
kaskia,  was  about  the  richest  man  in  Illinois.  He  owned  large 
tracts  of  the  most  valuable  land  in  Randolph,  Jackson,  Mon- 
roe, Washington,  St.  Clair  and  other  counties.  He  occupied 
a  large  stone  house,  which  had,  however,  suffered  somewhat  by 
the  great  earthquake  of  1812,  which  endangered  for  months, 
and,  in  some  instances,  ruined  many  places  in  the  Mississippi 
valley  as  far  up  as  Kaskaskia.  He  had  a  very  large  family 
of  sons  and  daughters,  with  several  of  whom  I  and  my  family 
formed,  somewhat  later,  very  amicable  relations.  As  Mr. 
Morrison  died  a  few  years  later,  I  have  not  been  able  to  form 
any  well-considered  opinion  of  his  character.  He  certainly 
must  have  been  a  very  shrewd  business  man.  His  brother, 
Col.  Robert  Morrison,  also  resided  in  Kaskaskia  and  had  a 
very  interesting  family.  His  wife  was  a  highly  intellectual 
and  talented  lady,  and  their  house  was  much  frequented  by 
the  most  intellectual  and  best  society.  He  was  the  father  of 
three  sons,  who  also  reached  high  distinction,  Murray  and 
Robert  being  eminent  lawyers  and  judges,  Robert  for  a  long 
time  chief- justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California.  James 
Donaldson  Lowry  Morrison,  the  oldest,  who  was  an  inhabitant 
of  Belleville  for  many  years,  was  preeminent  as  a  land  lawyer 
and  speculator,  was  several  times  a  member  of  the  Legislature, 
was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Mexican  War,  a  member  of 
Congress,  and  a  leading  politician.  As  I  became  very  inti- 
mate with  him  in  many  ways,  partly  as  an  opponent,  and 
partly  as  a  coadjutor  in  politics,  I  will  have  to  speak  of  him 
again  in  the  course  of  these  reminiscences. 

Another  very  interesting  family  also  formed  a  part  of  the 
Kaskaskia  circle,  —  the  family  of  Mr.  David  J.  Baker.  He 
was  an  excellent  lawyer  of  the  old  school,  a  most  conscientious 
man,  had  at  one  time  filled  a  vacancy  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  had  been  United  States  District  Attorney.  His 
wife  was  an  accomplished  lady,  and  she  entertained  very  hos- 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  393 

pitably.  He  moved  later  to  Alton.  His  son,  Henry  Baker, 
was  for  many  years  judge  of  the  court  of  that  city,  and  his 
son,  John  Baker,  was  circuit  judge,  and  is  now  judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court. 

Last  but  not  least,  Kaskaskia  was  the  residence  of  the 
Kane  family.  Elias  Kent  Kane,  a  descendant  of  a  very  well 
known  family  in  New  York,  a  relative  of  Chancellor  Kent 
and  of  Judge  Kane  of  Philadelphia  and  of  the  north-pole  ex- 
plorer, Elijah  Kane,  had  settled  early  in  Kaskaskia.  He  was 
a  distinguished  lawyer  and  statesman.  Governor  Ford,  in 
his  ' '  History  of  Illinois, ' '  speaks  of  him  in  these  terms :  ' '  The 
principal  member  of  the  Convention  which  formed  in  1818 
our  first  constitution,  to  whose  talents  we  are  mostly  indebted 
for  the  peculiar  features  of  the  constitution,  was  E.  K.  Kane. 
His  talents  were  both  solid  and  brilliant.  After  being  appoint- 
ed Secretary  of  State  under  the  new  government,  he  was 
elected  to  the  Legislature  and  twice  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate ;  he  died  in  the  autumn  of  1835  and  in  memory 
of  him  the  County  of  Kane,  on  the  Fox  River,  was  named, 
and  the  County  of  Pope  in  honor  of  the  faithful  and  able 
delegate  to  Congress,  Judge  Pope."  He  died  a  few  months 
before  my  first  arrival  in  Kaskaskia,  but  his  family  was  still 
residing  in  the  spacious  old-fashioned  mansion  opposite  Kas- 
kaskia, and  in  later  years  I  passed  many  glorious  days  at  the 
Kane  place.  His  widow,  Mrs.  Kane,  was  a  most  amiable  and 
vivacious  lady  of  French  descent,  dispensing  a  liberal  hos- 
pitality at  this  pleasant  place,  which  had  a  large  and  taste- 
fully laid-out  garden  and  from  which  there  was  a  very  fine 
view  of  Kaskaskia  and  also  the  Mississippi  River  and  the 
opposite  heights  of  Missouri.  She  had  several  sons,  one  of 
whom  was  a  captain  of  dragoons  in  the  United  States  Army, 
but  died  in  Belleville  not  long  after  the  Mexican  War,  in 
which  he  had  taken  part.  Two  very  beautiful  daughters  were 
for  the  visiting  lawyers  a  great  attraction.  The  oldest,  Marie 
Louise,  married  William  C.  Kinney,  son  of  Governor  Kinney, 
and  became  the  grandmother  of  my  grandchildren,  her  daugh- 


394  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ter  Felicite  having  married  my  son  Gustave.  Elizabeth,  the 
younger  daughter,  an  almost  ethereal  beauty,  married  Gov- 
ernor William  H.  Bissell,  the  distinguished  statesman  and 
soldier  who  died  early  in  1860,  and  whose  widow  did  not  long 
survive  him.  Elias  K.  Kane,  whom  I  did  not  personally 
know,  has  been  represented  to  me  not  only  by  his  family  but 
by  all  who  knew  him  as  a  most  amiable  and  noble  man,  whose 
early  death  was  deplored  by  all,  even  his  political  opponents. 

There  were  other  highly  respected  families  then  living  in 
Kaskaskia,  such  as  the  Humphreys,  the  Maxwells,  and  the 
Hotchkisses,  making  really  a  social  circle  of  extraordinary 
quality.  Judges  and  lawyers  loved  to  attend  Kaskaskia  court, 
where  wealth,  talent  and  beauty,  united  with  the  greatest  hos- 
pitality, made  their  stay  delightful.  Now  since  the  great 
flood,  which  swept  almost  all  the  houses  away,  it  is  like  Gold- 
smith's "Deserted  Village,"  upon  which,  nevertheless,  recol- 
lection dwells  with  unfeigned  pleasure. 

As  an  interesting  trait  of  the  place,  I  may  remark  that 
at  the  time  of  my  first  visit,  there  were  still  a  few  families  of 
Kaskaskia  Indians  living  close  to  the  place  in  their  rough 
tents.  They  were  even  more  lazy,  more  dirty  and  more  good- 
for-nothing  than  most  of  the  Indians  I  have  seen  since,  and 
I  have  seen  a  good  many;  but  to  most  of  us  they  were  then 
still  a  curiosity. 

When  court  adjourned,  I  left  my  companions.  In  the 
other  counties  of  the  circuit,  Mr.  Snyder  had  not  much  busi- 
ness, and  I,  as  a  perfect  stranger,  was  not  apt  to  get  any.  My 
partner's  sickness  was  of  course  also,  from  a  business  point 
of  view,  unfortunate.  I  received  but  very  few  fees.  My 
homeward  journey  was  one  of  the  hardest  trips  I  ever  ex- 
perienced. After  a  deep  snow  it  turned  very  cold,  a  stiff 
northwest  wind  blowing  into  my  face.  Some  of  the  creeks 
were  frozen  hard  and  I  could  get  over  them  easily  enough; 
but  on  one  —  Black  Creek  —  the  ice  was  not  sufficiently  thick 
to  carry  my  horse.  It  was  not  deep;  and  I  went  into  the 
water  only  up  to  my  knees ;  but  on  coming  out  into  the  prairie 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  395 

again,  my  leggings  froze  stiff.  At  the  next  farm  I  thawed 
them  out  again,  but  my  feet  had  got  wet  through  my  boots. 
A  ride  of  forty-five  miles  under  such  untoward  circumstances 
was  a  distressful  effort,  and,  arriving  at  Belleville  late  at  night, 
I  felt  very  tired.  The  next  day  I  went  out  to  the  farm,  but 
soon  afterwards  I  was  taken  down  with  what  is  called  the 
mumps,  a  most  painful  swelling  of  the  glands  near  the  ears 
and  cheeks.  The  disease  is  mostly  a  children's  disease  and 
passes  off  with  them  in  a  few  days,  but  it  is  rather  a  serious 
affection  with  grown  persons.  My  head  was  much  affected 
and  my  whole  system  greatly  debilitated.  In  fact,  I  never 
felt  more  miserable.  The  most  tender  and  unremitting  care 
of  Sophie  and  Mrs.  Engelmann  brought  me  through.  But 
misfortune  did  not  end  there.  Before  I  was  entirely  well, 
exposing  myself  improvidently  to  the  raw  air,  though  only 
for  a  short  time,  I  was  immediately  seized  with  the  worst  kind 
of  quinsy,  which  for  a  week  or  so  made  me  feel  very  ill.  I 
was  so  weak  that  I  almost  wanted  to  die.  But  loving  nursing 
and  Doctor  Reuss's  skill  set  me  on  my  feet  again. 

THE  FAMILY  IN  GERMANY 

Through  Mr.  Hilgard  and  other  immigrants,  I  had  re- 
ceived from  home  several  large  chests  containing  many  useful 
things,  presents  for  some  of  the  Engelmanns,  files  of  political 
and  literary  journals,  interesting  books,  also  money  remit- 
tances from  my  family.  The  political  news  I  received  from 
home  and  from  my  friends,  as  well  as  from  the  accounts  of 
newcomers,  were  as  bad  as  ever.  Nearly  all  my  University 
and  Frankfort  friends  were  either  in  exile  or  in  prisons.  Dr. 
Charles  Bunsen  and  several  other  citizens  of  Frankfort  had 
been  condemned  to  several  years  of  hard  imprisonment,  not 
for  any  participation  in  the  April  emeute,  but  for  forming 
secret  societies  afterwards,  with  a  view  of  liberating  the  pris- 
oners and  of  distributing  revolutionary  pamphlets.  Even 
Max  Von  Biegeleben,  with  whom  I  had  boarded  in  Heidelberg, 
and  whom  I  liked  so  much,  though  the  son  of  a  very  high 


396  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

official  in  the  Grand  Dukedom  of  Hesse,  had  been  imprisoned ; 
so  also  had  Rueder  in  Eutin,  another  of  my  most  intimate 
friends  from  Jena  and  Heidelberg.  Brother  Charles,  who  had 
most  influential  friends  in  the  Frankfort  government,  had 
never  been  imprisoned,  and  the  prosecution  against  him  ended 
in  a  judgment  of  a  moderate  fine  and  a  couple  of  weeks'  im- 
prisonment in  the  city-prison,  which  he  might  suffer  when- 
ever convenient  for  him.  He  appealed,  and  I  believe,  never 
found  it  convenient  to  undergo  this  incarceration,  which 
would  have  been  hardly  a  punishment,  as  persons  confined  in 
the  city  jail  have  all  the  accommodations  they  wish,  may  re- 
ceive visitors,  and  even  on  urgent  business  leave  for  awhile. 
Only  citizens,  however,  are  allowed  this  privilege. 

An  important  change  had  taken  place  in  our  family.  The 
free  city  of  Frankfort  had  from  time  immemorial  flourished 
upon  the  principle  of  free  trade,  but  at  last  having  been  almost 
isolated  by  being  surrounded  on  every  side  by  the  custom- 
house lines  of  the  neighboring  States,  had  with  great  reluc- 
tance entered  in  1835  the  Prussian  Zollverein,  which  even  at 
that  time  embraced  a  large  majority  of  the  German  States, 
and  the  tariff  of  which  was  moderately  reasonable.  This  gave 
a  new  impulse  to  business,  real  estate  rose  at  once,  and  mother 
sold  our  house  at  a  rather  high  price,  leaving  herself  and  our 
sisters,  after  all  incumbrances  were  paid  off,  (Charles  and  I 
had  renounced  all  our  rights,  my  education  having  cost  several 
thousand  dollars,)  a  capital  on  the  interest  of  which  they 
could  have  lived  quite  comfortably  in  the  West,  where  the 
legal  interest  at  that  time  was  as  high  as  12^  per  cent.  At 
Frankfort  it  would  not  have  brought  more  than  4  per  cent. 
There  would  then  have  been  nothing  in  the  way  of  prevent- 
ing their  coming  over,  except  the  precarious  health  of  both 
my  sisters  and  the  reluctance  of  Charles  to  leave  Frankfort, 
there  being  no  chance  of  his  disposing  of  his  business  profit- 
ably. I,  of  course,  would  have  been  delighted  to  have  them 
with  us ;  but  still  I  deemed  it  my  duty  not  to  encourage  them 
too  much,  being  afraid  that  the  climate  would  not  suit  their 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  397 

very  delicate  health.    The  idea  of  their  immigration  was,  how- 
ever, not  entirely  discarded  but  held  in  abeyance. 

All  the  letters  I  received  from  home  were  as  usual  very 
interesting  and  expressive  of  the  great  love  my  family  bore 
me.  A  passage  from  Augusta's  letter  may  show  how  sound 
her  heart  and  head  were:  "0,  dear  Gustav!  Do  not,  I  pray 
you,  become  a  thorough  American,  but  retain  in  your  house  at 
least  our  dear  and  beautiful  language.  In  the  Huguenot  col- 
onies near  Homburg,  [where  my  mother  and  sisters  had  passed 
the  previous  summer  for  their  health,]  Dornholzhausen  and 
Friedrichsdorf,  one  can  see  plainly  what  a  firm  will  and  love 
for  one's  native  country  can  do.  The  people  up  to  this  day 
all  speak  French  there  and  speak  it  very  well  and  purely,  hav- 
ing been  now  more  than  one  hundred  years  surrounded  by 
Germans.  Remain  true  to  what  is  good  in  the  German  lan- 
guage and  do  not  let  national  feelings  die ! " 

A  TRIP  TO  CHICAGO  IN  1836 

Soon  after  my  recovery  I  was  charged  with  procuring 
the  correction  of  some  deeds  for  valuable  farm-property,  the 
title  of  which  without  this  correction  might  become  doubtful. 
As  the  parties  who  were  to  make  the  title  perfect  resided  near 
Chicago,  it  was  decided  best  that  I  should  go  there  myself. 
As  this  was  in  the  line  of  my  business,  and  the  compensation 
for  my  services  was,  for  the  time,  very  large,  I  of  course  ac- 
cepted the  task.  Now-a-days  a  trip  to  Chicago  is  a  pleasant 
journey  of  twenty-four  hours,  both  coming  and  returning.  It 
was  quite  a  different  undertaking  in  1836,  and  so  it  may  not 
be  out  of  place  to  give  a  brief  account  of  my  trip. 

Going  to  St.  Louis  early  in  May,  I  took  a  boat  bound  for 
Peru,  a  place  some  forty  miles  north  of  Peoria  on  the  Illinois 
river.  At  Alton,  we  had  a  long  delay,  delivering  and  receiv- 
ing goods.  When  we  left  late  in  the  evening  another  boat 
bound  for  Galena,  near  the  Mississippi  River,  left  the  wharf 
at  the  same  time.  A  race  immediately  sprung  up.  Though 
many  fatal  accidents  had  happened  from  such  races,  the  boilers 


398  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

exploding  by  reason  of  too  great  a  pressure  of  steam,  yet  no 
passenger  remonstrated  and  all  were  on  deck  shouting  and 
cheering.  The  boats  kept  close  together,  and  such  was  the 
excitement  on  our  boat  that  we  missed  the  mouth  of  the  Il- 
linois River,  about  twenty  miles  above  Alton,  and  actually  ran 
about  twelve  miles  up  the  Mississippi  before  the  mistake  was 
discovered.  This  ended  the  race,  and  we  on  board  had  to 
turn  back  to  get  into  the  Illinois. 

The  Illinois  was  then  at  high  water,  quite  a  fine  stream  at 
the  mouth,  and  for  about  a  hundred  miles  broader  than  the 
Main,  while  its  water,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  Missouri 
or  even  of  the  Mississippi,  was  beautiful.  At  many  places  it 
had  overflowed  its  bank.  It  was  then  navigable,  even  with 
pretty  large  boats,  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Ma- 
jestic forests  lined  both  of  its  shores.  Only  in  a  few  places 
did  the  prairies  extend  to  the  river.  Peoria,  about  two  hun- 
dred miles  from  St.  Louis,  has  a  most  beautiful  situation.  It 
rises  terrace-like  on  gravel  and  rocky  ground,  and  is  encircled 
by  finely  timbered  heights.  It  had  even  then  a  number  of 
fine  warehouses  and  residences,  and  promised  the  greatness 
it  has  since  reached.  I  learned  that  a  good  many  Germans 
had  already  settled  there.  At  Hennepin,  about  twenty  miles 
above  Peoria,  I  left  the  boat  to  catch  a  stage  running  from 
Bloomington  to  Chicago,  at  some  place  east  of  Hennepin,  to 
which  a  hack  took  me  and  some  other  passengers.  In  the 
night  we  reached  Ottawa,  then  also  a  fine  and  rising  place. 
We  had  to  stop  there  a  few  hours,  in  order  to  cross  the  Fox 
River  by  ford.  The  river  was  high  at  the  time,  and  the  driver 
would  not  risk  crossing  at  night,  but  waited  for  daylight.  The 
ford  was  narrow  and  rather  rocky,  so  that,  if  the  stage  had 
missed  the  track,  it  would  have  been  very  dangerous.  As  it 
was,  the  water  came  near  running  into  the  stage,  which  shook 
terribly,  when  going  over  the  rough  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the 
river.  We  felt  very  much  relieved  when  we  reached  the  fur- 
ther bank.  From  Hennepin  on  the  country  had  been  charm- 
ing. All  rolling  prairie,  only  from  time  to  time  dotted  with 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  399 

groves  of  fine  timber.  Prairies  in  May  and  June,  covered  with 
a  hundred  varieties  of  flowers  and  studded  with  numerous 
patches  of  strawberries,  present  a  spectacle  at  which  travelers 
who  have  seen  the  most  beautiful  scenery  in  the  world  will 
feel  a  great  delight. 

Not  very  far  from  the  Fox  River  we  met  with  a  gang  of 
prairie  wolves.  When  first  observed  they  had  been  standing 
right  in  the  road ;  but  hearing  the  rattling  of  our  coach  they 
made  off  on  one  side  into  the  prairie.  They  trotted  quite 
leisurely,  turning  their  heads  from  time  to  time  in  a  sort  of 
stealthy  way.  Their  color  was  that  of  a  fox;  in  size  they 
were  twice  as  large. 

Some  ten  miles  west  of  Chicago  we  came  into  a  very  wet 
prairie,  with  a  number  of  rather  deep  places  filled  with  water, 
a  sort  of  Pontine  swamps.  We  were  put  into  a  large  covered 
wagon,  the  wheels  of  which  were  very  high  and  stout  and  the 
fellies  and  tires  one  and  a  half  feet  wide  to  prevent  cutting 
into  the  mud  and  getting  the  wagon  stalled.  There  was  no 
house  or  field  anywhere  to  be  seen  until  we  reached  the  then 
little  town  of  Chicago.  A  few  years  before  only  a  few  shan- 
ties and  a  small  wooden  fort  stood  between  the  lake  and  the 
arms  of  the  Chicago  River,  one  of  which  came  from  the  north 
and  the  other  from  the  south.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  Chi- 
cago had  about  5,000  inhabitants.  There  were  only  one  or 
two  brick  houses ;  all  others,  even  the  hotel  in  which  I  stopped, 
were  frame  buildings.  I  arrived  at  noon,  having  been  on  my 
way  from  Belleville  for  five  days  and  as  many  nights,  stop- 
ping nowhere  more  than  a  couple  of  hours.  I  immediately 
went  to  the  recorder's  and  the  circuit  clerk's  offices,  ex- 
amining the  records.  In  the  evening  I  passed  my  time  at 
the  various  places  where  lands  and  lots  were  selling  at  auction. 
All  over  the  country,  owing  to  the  multitude  of  banks  that 
had  sprung  up  on  the  downfall  of  the  great  national  bank, 
and  to  the  fact  that  the  national  debt  had  been  paid  and  the 
surplus  of  the  treasury  was  about  to  be  divided  amongst  the 
States,  a  spirit  of  speculation  had  arisen  quite  unparalleled 


400  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

at  any  time  or  in  any  country,  except  when  the  South  Sea 
Bubble  and  the  Law  Mania  prevailed  in  Great  Britain  and 
France.  Chicago  in  the  West  was  at  the  head  of  this  rage. 
Every  boat  brought  hundreds  of  immigrants,  all  anxious  to 
make  their  fortunes  by  buying  up  the  northern  prairies.  At 
places  it  was  supposed  the  contemplated  canal  uniting  the  great 
lakes  and  the  Mississippi  by  way  of  the  Illinois  River  would 
be  located,  many  towns  had  been  laid  out  on  paper,  and  here, 
as  well  as  in  towns  already  existing,  as  Ottawa,  LaSalle,  and 
Peru,  lots  were  sold  every  night  at  really  fabulous  prices,  con- 
sidering the  times,  as  were  also  all  tracts  of  land  within  five 
or  ten  miles  of  the  canal.  Fabulous  were  the  prices,  indeed; 
for,  when  the  crisis  came  a  few  years  later,  all  those  lots  and 
lands  came  down  to  almost  nothing,  and  remained  valueless 
for  some  ten  or  twenty  years,  when  a  new  and  more  healthy 
rise  took  place.  These  sales  were  nearly  all  on  long  credits; 
only  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  money  was  paid  down. 
I  venture  to  say  that  there  was  not  enough  cash  money  in  the 
whole  State  of  Illinois  at  that  time  to  have  paid  for  the  lands 
and  lots  that  were  sold  within  a  month  in  the  city  of  Chicago 
alone. 

Next  morning  I  started  out  westward  to  see  the  persons 
I  had  to  deal  with.  I  had  to  cross  the  same  swamps;  but  a 
stout  Canadian  Indian  pony  brought  me  safely  through.  I 
had  to  ford  the  Des  Plaines  River,  which  was  pretty  deep,  be- 
fore I  reached  my  destination  about  twelve  miles  from  Chi- 
cago. It  was  in  the  afternoon  when  I  reached  it,  and  my 
business  took  up  all  the  rest  of  the  day.  I  stayed  over  night 
in  the  place,  and  the  next  morning  I  went  with  my  clients 
back  to  Chicago,  where  our  business  was  completed  and  the 
proper  deeds  made  out. 

There  was  an  immense  deal  of  life  in  this  new  Eldorado. 
The  stores  on  Water  Street  were  crowded.  The  river  was  full 
of  boats.  People  ran  as  fast  along  the  muddy  unpaved  streets 
as  they  do  now.  It  had  one  advantage  over  the  metropolis  of 
today.  The  river  formed  by  the  two  arms  was  nearly  as  clear 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  401 

as  the  beautiful  lake,  the  sight  of  which  was  then  as  it  is  now, 
a  great  delight  to  me.  Did  I  then  foresee  what  Chicago  would 
be  in  later  life?  St.  Louis,  in  comparison  to  Chicago,  was 
in  1836,  a  stately,  magnificent  city.  Next  day  I  left  on  the 
stage,  went  on  it  as  far  as  Peoria,  took  a  boat,  and  after  an 
absence  of  two  weeks,  reached  St.  Louis. 

JOURNALISTIC  ACTIVITY 

Previous  to  my  going  to  Chicago,  St.  Louis  had  been  the 
scene  of  a  horrible  tragedy.  The  black  cook  of  a  steamboat, 
a  very  vicious  and  dangerous  man,  had  been  charged  with 
committing  some  offense.  The  sheriff,  Hammond,  and  his 
deputy  had  arrested  him  on  the  boat,  and  were  marching  him 
up  to  the  jail  right  behind  the  old  court-house  square,  between 
Market  and  Chestnut  Streets.  The  negro  was  not  handcuffed, 
but  walked  between  the  two  officers,  when  all  at  once,  not  far 
from  the  square,  drawing  a  large  kitchen-knife  from  his  side- 
pocket  he  stabbed  Hammond  to  death  and  dangerously  wound- 
ed the  constable.  It  being  in  the  afternoon  and  many  people 
being  on  the  streets,  the  negro  was  soon  caught  and  taken  to 
the  jail,  a  solid  stone  building.  Hammond  was  a  very  re- 
spectable and  popular  man  with  a  large  family.  Intense  ex- 
citement at  once  sprung  up.  A  crowd,  mostly  of  Hammond's 
friends,  gathered  at  the  court-house.  Speeches  of  a  most  in- 
flammatory character  were  made,  calling  for  immediate  ven- 
geance. The  crowd  having  been  largely  increased,  the  effect 
of  these  harangues  was  that  there  was  a  rush  for  the  jail  to 
take  the  negro  out  and  lynch  him.  The  jailor  would  not  de- 
liver him  up.  There  was  much  parleying.  Finally  the  strong 
gate  was  forced,  and  also  the  prisoner's  cell.  The  mob,  made 
up  in  considerable  part  of  well-known  and  prominent  citizens, 
led  the  victim  towards  the  western  town  limits,  chained  him 
to  a  tree  or  post,  and  in  their  madness,  instead  of  hanging  or 
shooting  him,  gathered  up  sticks  of  wood,  tore  dry  and  green 
branches  from  trees,  piled  them  round  him  and  proceeded  to 
roast  him  alive.  It  was  said  that  a  gentleman  on  horseback 


402  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

rode  up  with  a  rifle  and  asked  to  put  an  end  to  the  misery  of 
the  man,  who  was  singing  hymns,  by  shooting  him.  But  the 
crowd  took  hold  of  the  gentleman,  and  would  not  let  him  kill 
the  poor  fellow. 

The  "Anzeiger  des  Westens, "  then  edited  by  William 
Weber,  appearing  the  next  morning  after  this  most  monstrous 
and  cruel  outrage,  gave  an  account  of  it  and  denounced  it  in 
strong  terms,  calling  it  a  blot  on  the  reputation  of  the  city 
which  could  never  be  washed  out.  The  editor  conceded  that 
but  few  took  an  active  part,  but  blamed  the  authorities  be- 
cause they  had  not  interfered.  One  of  the  English  papers, 
"The  Bulletin,"  in  reply,  published  a  severe  and  somewhat 
perfidious  communication,  charging  the  editor  of  the  "An- 
zeiger"  with  having  calumniated  the  whole  city  and  with 
having  unjustly  denounced  the  authorities  and  the  militia. 
While  the  occurrence  was  to  be  condemned  —  the  paper  said 
—  yet  this  was  not  a  country  where  citizens  would  fight  against 
citizens ;  that  an  interef erence  with  the  mad  crowd  would  have 
caused  bloodshed.  Here  were  no  police  forces  and  military 
armed  cap-a-pie  to  murder  citizens,  as  in  the  country  which 
the  editor  came  from.  Besides,  the  authorities  had  had  no 
time  to  prevent  the  deed,  if  they  had  even  wished  to  do  so. 
The  editor  was  told  that  he  ought  to  learn  something  about 
Republican  institutions  before  he  set  himself  up  to  lecture 
people,  and  he  ought  to  beware  of  offending  a  community 
where  he  was  an  alien  and  which  had  generously  favored  him. 

This  "Bulletin"  article  created  a  great  deal  of  stir,  and 
Weber  was  informed  by  credible  American  and  German 
friends  that  the  printing  office  of  the  "Anzeiger"  would  be 
mobbed.  Weber  was  advised  to  lock  the  office  and  also  to 
leave  the  house  for  fear  of  being  personally  injured.  But 
Weber  was  not  a  man  to  be  scared.  He  told  his  friends  that 
he  would  defend  his  property  at  any  risk.  He  and  his  employ- 
ees armed  themselves,  and  some  five  or  six  of  his  friends,  stout 
young  Germans,  all  armed  with  double-barrelled  guns  loaded 
with  buckshot,  marched  into  the  office  determined  to  give  the 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  403 

assailants  a  warm  reception;  but  the  attempted  raid  which 
had,  after  all,  been  planned  by  a  few  rowdies  only,  came  to 
nothing. 

On  my  journey  to  Chicago,  I  stopped  at  Weber's,  where 
I  learned  all  the  particulars.  He  was  very  anxious  to  reply 
to  the  "Bulletin's"  article,  and  begged  me  to  write  a  com- 
munication, expressing  his  views,  to  that  journal,  as  he  was 
not  then,  as  he  believed,  sufficiently  able  to  write  good  Eng- 
lish. I  went  to  work,  and,  after  stating  that  before  the  time 
of  the  meeting  near  the  court-house,  the  breaking  open  of  the 
jail  and  the  taking  of  the  murderer  to  the  place  of  execution, 
more  than  an  hour  had  elapsed,  giving  the  authorities  ample 
time  to  interfere,  and  after  reciting  the  paragraphs  of  the 
Missouri  Statutes,  making  it  the  duty  of  every  judge,  justice 
of  the  peace,  and  constable  to  break  up  all  unlawful  assemblies 
and  authorizing  such  peace-officers  to  call  upon  law-abiding 
citizens  and  even  the  militia,  (there  were  some  very  fine 
companies  of  militia  then  in  existence,)  to  assist  them  in  ar- 
resting law-breakers,  I  further  asserted  that  the  "Anzeiger" 
was  still  of  the  opinion  that  if  the  authorities  had  called  for 
assistance,  it  would  have  been  the  duty  of  every  good  citizen 
to  uphold  the  law,  even  if  a  bloody  conflict  had  ensued.  Al- 
though not  born  here,  the  editor  believed  he  knew  Republican 
principles  as  well  as  the  author  of  the  article,  and  because  he 
did  know  them,  he  insisted  on  the  principle  that  the  authority 
of  the  law  should  be  sustained  at  all  hazards,  —  that  he  had 
not  intended  to  blame  the  entire  community,  but  only  those 
who  had  omitted  to  do  their  duty.  In  regard  to  the  conclud- 
ing expression  of  the  "Bulletin's"  communication,  the  editor 
would  say  that  much  as  he  appreciated  the  kindness  and  gen- 
erosity of  the  American  people,  he  did  not  feel  dependent  on 
them,  but  was  dependent  on  himself  and  the  results  of  his 
own  abilities  and  exertions;  that  he  asked  nothing  but  what 
the  laws  of  the  country  granted  him,  and  if  he  had  come  for 
liberty's  sake  an  exile  to  these  hospitable  shores  to  live  under 
the  liberal  laws  and  rational  and  happy  constitution  of  the 


404  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNEE 

country,  he  had  not  come  as  a  beggar  to  ask  for  kindness  and 
generosity,  but  as  a  man  who  knew  how  to  value  liberty  and 
was  always  ready  to  defend  it.  The  letter  was  published  in 
the  ' '  Bulletin ' '  and  put  an  end  to  all  further  controversy. 

The  "Anzeiger  des  Westens"  had  been  started  by  Messrs. 
Bimpage  and  Fessenden,  two  gentlemen  from  Mecklenburg, 
who  had  in  1834  established  a  land  and  general  intelligence 
office.  They  were  educated  men,  and  the  paper  appearing 
weekly  had  a  respectable  appearance  and  was  well  printed. 
But  as  their  knowledge  of  the  country  and  its  institutions  was 
scant,  they  filled  their  columns  with  translations  of  the  Eng- 
lish press,  and  took  their  foreign  news  from  the  "Old  and 
New  World"  published  by  Wesselhoeft  at  Philadelphia,  and 
occasionally  from  private  letters.  Bimpage  had  applied  to 
me  for  occasional  editorials  on  home  politics,  and  I  had  from 
time  to  time  furnished  him  articles.  The  paper,  however,  did 
not  give  general  satisfaction.  "Weber  had  left  the  farm  in 
1835,  and  had  found  employment  in  a  small  library  founded 
by  some  merchants  and  clerks,  forming  the  nucleus  of  the 
present  Mercantile  Library,  now  containing  some  70,000  vol- 
umes. I  recommended  him  to  Bimpage  as  editor,  and  Weber 
took  charge  of  the  paper  early  in  1836.  During  the  year 
Bimpage  was  bought  out  by  a  stock  company  formed  by  Ger- 
man citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  St.  Clair  County,  and  Weber 
was  appointed  permanent  editor.  Finally,  the  company,  I 
being  one  of  the  members,  transferred  the  property  to  Weber, 
who  most  ably  carried  it  on  at  a  later  period  with  a  Mr.  Ols- 
hausen,  and  made  it  for  many  years  the  leading  organ  of  the 
Germans  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

For  the  first  four  or  five  years  I  contributed,  at  Weber's 
request,  as  many  articles  as  I  could  find  time  to  write,  and 
remained  an  occasional  contributor  until  it  changed  hands  in 
1849  or  1850.  When  Mr.  Charles  Daenzer  became  the  editor 
I  renewed  my  connection  with  the  paper  by  writing  for  it 
from  time  to  time.  In  this  way  I  was  introduced  to  journal- 
ism, contributing  more  or  less  to  English  and  German  news- 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  405 

papers  in  Belleville,  and  sometimes  also  to  Chicago  papers, 
English  and  German.  I  never  was,  however,  the  ostensible 
editor  of  any  paper.  Many  articles  I  wrote  also  for  English 
and  German  reviews,  and  even  now  I  employ  some  of  my 
leisure  in  journalistic  writing.  It  became  a  habit.  Whenever 
some  important  subject  occupied  my  mind  I  felt  it  a  kind  of 
burden  resting  on  me,  and  I  had  to  put  it  on  paper  or  in  print 
to  get  relief. 

MARRIAGE 

While  I  was  in  Chicago,  Caroline  was  married  to  Decker, 
and  they  moved  to  their  forty-acre  tract  called  Waldeck,  less 
than  half  a  mile  west  of  the  lower  farm.  Sophie  and  I  had 
fixed  on  the  17th  day  of  June,  it  being  the  second  anniversary 
of  our  landing  at  New  York,  for  our  union.  I  had  rented  a 
neat  house  immediately  south  of  the  present  Hinckley  bank 
lot  on  Illinois  Street.  It  had  a  large  veranda  shaded  by  sweet 
briar,  a  rather  large  garden  and  yard;  but  the  lease  of  the 
tenant  did  not  expire  before  August,  and  so  I  had  to  take 
provisionally  the  only  house  that  was  for  rent.  It  was  a 
slight  frame  building  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Main  and 
Church  Streets,  containing  but  one  room  on  the  first  floor, 
above  which  was  a  garret  serving  as  a  dormitory.  A  small 
kitchen  was  attached,  with  no  room  for  a  servant.  When 
Sophie  and  I  first  viewed  it,  we  could  not  but  laugh  at  the 
tiny  structure.  But  we  consoled  ourselves  with  the  lines,  of 
Schiller,  I  believe, 

' '  Raum  hat  auch  die  kleinste  Huette 
Fuer  ein  zaertlich  liebend  Paar." 

Mother,  Sophie  and  I  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  we  bought 
most  of  our  household  and  kitchen  things.  There  being  at 
that  time  no  furniture  stores  in  existence  in  Belleville,  we 
had  our  furniture  made  to  order  in  Belleville.  I  am  pretty 
sure  that  we  did  not  spend  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  for  our  whole  outfit,  and  yet  we  thought  ourselves 
comfortably  established.  What  a  change  of  times  since !  But 


406 

we  were  resolved  to  get  along,  and  we  did.  About  the  same 
time  I  became  a  landowner.  I  bought  two  acres  of  the  finest 
timber  land  adjoining  the  survey  on  which  Belleville  was  laid 
out,  with  a  view  that  if  fortune  favored  me  I  would  build  a 
residence  there.  It  was  on  the  east  side  of  Belleville  on  the 
road  to  New  Nashville  and  Shawneetown,  situated  on  a  rise 
from  which  the  whole  town  could  be  overlooked.  I  paid  fifty 
dollars  per  acre.  People  thought  me  mad.  But  a  few  days 
afterwards  Mrs.  Abend,  who  had  moved  into  Belleville  with 
her  family,  bought  one  acre  adjoining  my  land  on  the  south 
and  paid  one  hundred  dollars  for  it.  Within  one  year  I  had 
sold  a  dozen  or  so  large  trees  from  it  for  lumber,  which  repaid 
me  at  once,  leaving  a  great  many  splendid  trees  on  the  ground 
—  white  oak,  walnut,  hickory  and  sycamore. 

At  last  the  sun  rose  on  our  wedding-day.  It  was  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  summer  days.  The  ceremony  did  not  take 
more  than  about  five  minutes,  and  was  performed  by  good 
old  "Squire"  Kutherford  of  Ridge  Prairie,  who  had  married 
Charlotte  and  Caroline.  A  large  company  was  present  —  all 
the  Engelmann  family,  all  the  Hilgards,  Bunsens,  Reusses, 
Schotts,  and  many  other  friends,  some  from  St.  Louis.  A 
large  table  was  set  near  the  house  under  shade-trees,  and  was 
filled  at  least  three  times  before  all  got  through  dinner.  Two 
of  my  St.  Louis  friends  had  sent  us  excellent  boxes  of  wine, 
and  we  had  really  a  merry  time.  From  relatives  and  friends 
we  received  useful  and  costly  presents,  and  some  weeks  later 
many  valuable  presents  came  from  our  family  in  Frankfort. 
Late  in  the  evening  I  took  Sophie  away  to  our  new  home. 

A  few  days  before  our  wedding  I  ceased  writing  a  diary. 
I  regret  it  now ;  but  how  could  I  think  at  that  happy  time  of 
writing  down  my  sentiments  and  my  feelings  and  reflections. 
It  would  have  seemed  to  me  a  kind  of  profanation.  Besides, 
there  was  my  law-business  to  be  attended  to,  and  a  good  many 
things  that  a  single  man  had  no  notions  of.  Politics  also 
took  up  a  good  deal  of  my  time.  Mr.  Snyder,  my  partner, 
though  in  feeble  health  still,  had  made  up  his  mind  to  run 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  407 

again  for  Congress.  The  chances  appeared  good.  In  1834  he 
had  been  beaten  by  Governor  Reynolds,  but  had  received  a 
large  majority  of  the  Democratic  vote.  But  Reynolds,  being 
supposed  to  be  a  less  radical  Jackson  man  than  Snyder,  had 
received  the  support  of  nearly  the  entire  Whig  party.  This 
time,  however,  J.  Gatewood,  a  very  eminent  lawyer  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  district,  came  out  as  an  outspoken  Whig  or 
anti- Jackson  man,  and  was  pretty  sure  of  getting  the  Whig 
vote.  Mr.  Snyder  was  not  allowed  by  his  physician  to  make 
public  speeches,  but  he  went  into  every  county  of  the  district, 
which  was  a  very  large  one,  being  nearly  one-fourth  of  the 
whole  State,  running  down  the  Mississippi  from  Green  County 
to  Cairo  and  from  there  up  the  Ohio  and  Wabash  to  White 
County.  As  the  election  was  to  take  place  in  August,  he  was 
away  from  home  nearly  all  the  time  from  May  to  August, 
leaving  me  in  St.  Clair  to  help  him  in  his  election.  I  had 
authority  to  open  all  his  letters  and  answer  them  the  best  I 
could,  and  of  course  had  to  correspond  with  him  frequently. 
The  law-business  fell  entirely  on  my  shoulders.  Mr.  Snyder 
had  calculated  right.  Gatewood  won  a  pretty  large  vote  from 
Reynolds,  and  as  Mr.  Snyder  got  a  plurality  over  the  old 
ranger,  he  was  elected.  It  being  a  Presidential  year,  when  the 
previously  held  State  elections  had  of  course  a  great  import- 
ance, the  election  in  August  was  a  lively  one.  St.  Clair  elected 
the  entire  Democratic  ticket  for  Congress,  for  the  State  Leg- 
islature and  for  the  county  offices. 

A  FOURTH  OF  JULY  CELEBRATION 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  duly  celebrated.  It  was  in  part 
a  most  comical  affair,  which  I  cannot  refrain  from  noticing 
somewhat  in  detail.  As  there  was  no  town  of  the  least  import- 
ance in  the  county,  except  Belleville  and  Lebanon,  a  great 
many  country  people  desiring  to  celebrate  had  come  in  on 
horseback  and  wagons,  and  Belleville  was  crowded.  A  sort 
of  impromptu  procession  was  formed.  It  was  headed  by  Dr. 
William  G.  Goforth,  as  chief-marshal.  He  was  a  curiosity. 


408  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Those  who  believed  him  reported  that  he  had  been  a  surgeon 
in  the  militia  army  who  fought  under  Jackson  at  New  Orleans. 
He  was  very  thin,  about  six  feet  high,  but  badly  put  up,  keep- 
ing himself  as  straight  as  a  shingle  when  sober.  His  face  was 
very  long  and  his  nose  quite  hooked.  His  eyes  protruded  like 
a  pair  of  saucers  and  his  face  was  as  red  as  the  woolen  scarf 
he  had  slung  around  his  breast  as  chief-marshal.  A  high 
white  hat  covered  his  abundant  black  hair.  He  was  a  very 
bold  practitioner,  in  fact  a  very  energetic  man  and  full  of  fire. 
He  had  many  broils,  and  had  his  hand  very  quickly  on  his 
trigger.  He  was  the  best  horseman  in  town  and  usually  kept 
a  blooded  horse.  Many  years  afterwards  he  came  to  his  death 
by  being  thrown  from  a  fiery  young  horse,  in  one  of  the  streets 
of  North  Belleville.  As  chief -marshal,  assuming  the  mien  of 
a  commander  of  a  brigade  of  horsemen,  he  looked  ridiculous 
enough.  He  was  followed  by  a  band  of  miusic,  in  which  was  a 
drummer,  one  Ellis,  a  cooper.  This  gentleman  was  under- 
sized, but  very  sturdy,  an  Englishman,  I  believe,  with  a  very 
red  face,  and  carrying  an  old-fashioned  drum  nearly  as  big 
as  himself.  He  also  wore  a  very  important  look.  There  was, 
too,  a  fifer,  whom  I  do  not  now  recollect.  But  what  made  this 
orchestra  most  amusing  was  a  fiddler,  Robert  Fleming,  a 
printer  and  editor  of  a  Belleville  paper.  He  was  one  of  the 
best-natured  men  I  ever  knew,  and  one  of  the  most  careless. 
I  believe  he  never  had  an  enemy  except  himself.  Eminently 
social,  he  was  very  fond  of  the  ' '  creature. ' '  He  had  very  good 
sense  and  was  perfectly  honest,  but  very  improvident.  When 
I  first  saw,  some  twenty  years  ago,  Joseph  Jefferson  play  Rip 
Van  Winkle,  he  reminded  mp  most  forcibly  of  my  friend 
Robert  Fleming.  The  latter  was  very  slightly  built  and 
stooped.  Taken  all  together,  marshal  and  band  showed  un- 
mistakable devotion  to  Bacchus  in  their  faces,  and  presented 
a  most  laughable  picture.  The  merits  of  the  music  may  be 
imagined,  the  fiddle  particularly  giving  discordant  strains 
when  played  by  this  marching  amateur  artist.  Without  much 
order  several  hundreds  of  people  marched  behind  through  all 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  409 

the  few  streets  of  Belleville,  and  finally  brought  up  at  the 
court-house,  where  some  one  delivered  a  short  address.  This 
was  in  the  morning.  But  there  had  also  been  a  dinner  gotten 
up  by  subscription  which  was  consumed  in  a  grove  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  city,  and  of  which  perhaps  a  hundred 
people  partook,  surrounded  by  a  big  crowd  of  spectators.  The 
German  element  was  already  strong  in  Belleville,  and  so  we  had 
claret,  which  was  then  very  good  and  very  cheap,  there  being 
no  duty  on  wine,  —  one  bottle  for  two  guests. 

There  were  the  usual  thirteen  toasts.  The  day  we  cele- 
brate, the  Union,  Washington,  etc.,  etc.  I  will  give  only  the 
last,  which  was  by  no  means  an  original  one,  but  met  with 
nine  cheers :  ' '  The  American  fair  ones,  never  so  fair  as  when 
they  are  our  companions  in  arms."  Then  followed  innumer- 
able volunteer  toasts,  some  very  curious  ones.  There  was  one 
by  a  lawyer,  G.  W.  Ealph,  to  the  Polish  exiles,  and  several 
to  the  new  State  of  Texas.  Alfred  Cowles,  the  oldest  and 
most  prominent  lawyer,  gave  as  a  toast:  "To  our  brethren 
from  Europe,  exiles  for  the  sake  of  liberty!  We  welcome 
them  in  the  land  of  their  choice. ' '  He  then  said  that  he  hoped 
I  would  respond  to  the  toast.  I  was  taken  by  surprise.  I  had 
to  make  my  first  speech  to  a  big  audience  in  the  open  air. 
However,  I  got  through  with  it  pretty  well,  though  the  speech 
as  it  was  afterwards  published  in  the  newspapers  was  a  good 
deal  retouched.  Among  other  things,  I  said:  "May,  gentle- 
men, the  day  be  far  distant,  nay !  may  it  never  come,  when  the 
American  people  shall  refuse  to  receive  on  their  shores  those 
who  seek  either  shelter  or  protection  here  against  the  oppres- 
sion of  European  tyranny  or  who  come  to  this  country  to  see 
realized  under  its  wise  and  happy  constitution  that  beau  ideal 
of  liberty  which  they  have  formed  previously.  May  America 
ever  kindly  receive  those  who  intend  to  become  good  and  pub- 
lic-spirited citizens."  Another  passage:  "Allow  me,  gentle- 
men, to  add  a  few  more  words  in  connection  with  the  sentiment 
just  uttered  by  the  gentleman  who  sits  opposite  to  me.  It 
strikes  me  that  since  various  nations  have  participated  in  the 


410  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

discovery  and  settlement  of  America,  she  has  been  destined  by 
providence  to  exhibit  the  innate  nobility,  not  of  individuals, 
not  of  individual  nations,  but  the  nobility  of  human  nature 
upon  the  largest  scale.  America  in  my  opinion  is  destined  to 
show  that  rational  men  are  able  to  live  together  and  to  form  a 
free  and  powerful  community,  no  matter  whether  they  trace 
their  blood  to  the  same  source,  no  matter  whether  their  pre- 
vious habits  have  been  the  same,  no  matter  whether  they  first 
expressed  themselves  in  the  same  language."  I  said  more 
along  the  same  line,  and  purposely,  because  just  at  that  time 
nativism  had  already  raised  its  head  in  some  of  the  large  cities 
of  the  East,  as  well  as  in  New  Orleans,  Cincinnati  and  Louis- 
ville, and  even  in  Washington  City.  As  a  matter  of  course,  I 
also  put  in  my  little  speech  a  little  dose  of  the  ' '  Spread  Eagle '  * 
style  to  please  the  groundlings. 

Later  in  the  afternoon  I  had  a  very  pleasant  party  in  our 
little  hut.  Mr.  Engelmann,  Theodore  Hilgard,  Jr.,  and  other 
friends  found  room  enough  to  enjoy  themselves  with  a  four 
o'clock  coffee,  my  young  wife  having  prepared  everything 
nicely  and  tastefully.  A  few  bottles  of  excellent  Rhine  wine, 
imported  by  Theodore  Kraft,  were  also  much  relished.  It  was 
the  first  party  at  our  new  little  home,  and  in  its  way  was,  what 
the  fashion  now  would  call,  "a  great  success." 

THE  "WESTLAND" 

Both  Theodore  and  Doctor  Engelmann  had  now  settled  in 
St.  Louis.  The  Doctor  soon  got  into  practice.  Theodore 
opened  an  intelligence  and  real  estate  office.  When  Weber 
became  the  editor  of  the  "Anzeiger,"  Theodore  took  his  place 
in  the  Mercantile  Library  and  assisted  Weber  very  much  in 
the  publishing  of  his  paper.  As  Germans  arrived  in  great 
numbers,  most  of  them  desirous  of  buying  land,  he  might  in 
course  of  time  have  made  his  business  lucrative.  But  he  was 
too  straightforward,  disliked  to  use  persuasion,  would  not  rec- 
ommend a  thing  which  he  thought  was  not  worth  recommend- 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  411 

ing,  —  in  a  word,  he  was  too  honest  to  flourish  in  this  line  of 
business.     He  was  not  what  the  Americans  call  "smart." 

Doctor  Engelmann  and  I  had  very  frequently  conversed 
about  the  many  books  written  by  Germans  concerning  the 
United  States,  and  how  very  unsatisfactory  and  misleading 
most  of  them  were.  Some  were  the  products  of  disappointed 
immigrants,  whose  misfortunes  were  all  laid  to  the  country  and 
its  people.  Others  were  evidently  written  by  interested 
persons,  who  sought  by  exaggerated  laudations  to  draw 
immigration  to  some  particular  spot;  others  again  treated  of 
everything,  —  the  law,  the  church,  the  school,  the  agriculture, 
the  geology,  the  climatology  of  the  whole  country,  without 
being  accurately  acquainted  with  any  of  these  subjects.  We 
felt  the  evil  influence  of  this  literature  from  the  many  false 
notions  which  we  found  in  the  newcomers.  Doctor  Engel- 
mann conceived  the  idea  of  starting  an  organ  in  Germany,  in 
which,  through  various  authors,  correct  information  could  be 
conveyed  to  the  German  public  concerning  the  United  States 
and  more  particularly  the  western  part  thereof,  adapted  to 
immigration.  He  had  interested  in  the  matter  his  uncle  in 
Heidelberg,  Joseph  Engelmann,  the  well-known  publisher,  who 
had  expressed  a  willingness  to  publish  it.  It  was  to  be  a 
periodical,  appearing  about  every  three  months.  The  doctor 
found  in  Captain  Charles  Neyfeld  a  very  able  gentleman  who 
entered  fully  into  his  ideas.  Neyfeld  was  a  native  of  Poland, 
of  German  parentage,  educated  in  the  cadet  school  at  War- 
saw, and  was  an  officer  in  the  corps  of  engineers  in  the  Polish 
army  before  the  revolution  of  1830.  An  exile  after  the  failure 
of  the  revolution,  he  had  settled  in  Frankfort,  where  I  had 
become  acquainted  with  him;  brother  Charles  was  quite  inti- 
mate with  him.  He  was  a  fine-looking  man,  about  thirty-five 
years  of  age,  spoke  and  wrote  German  like  his  native  tongue. 
In  Frankfort  he  published  in  German  a  very  excellent  history 
of  Poland  and  of  the  last  revolution;  but  after  the  third  of 
April  he  was  not  permitted  to  stay  there,  and  after  a  short 
sojourn  in  France  he  came  to  this  country  in  1834,  and  found, 


412 

owing  to  his  great  knowledge  of  engineering,  a  very  good  place 
in  the  general  surveyor's  office  in  St.  Louis.  He  had  visited 
me  and  the  Engelmanns  repeatedly.  He  was  really  a  German 
in  character  and  feeling,  and  had  married  a  German  lady; 
he  died  a  few  years  afterwards  very  suddenly,  to  the  great 
regret  of  his  many  friends. 

Doctor  Engelmann  enlisted  me  also  in  the  enterprise. 
But  as  my  name  in  Germany  at  that  time  would  not  recom- 
mend the  magazine  much  to  the  authorities  who  had  to  exer- 
cise the  "censur"  over  all  such  publications,  we  thought  it 
best  that  Engelmann  and  Neyfeld  should  appear  as  the  sole 
editors.  In  1837  the  first  number  of  the  magazine,  called  the 
"Westland,"  appeared.  Only  three  numbers  were  published 
in  all,  making  a  volume  of  380  pages.  The  difficulties  and 
delays  of  communication  which  existed  at  this  early  period, 
the  circumstance  that  the  contributors  very  soon  became  busily 
engaged  here,  and  the  small  support  it  received  from  the  Ger- 
man public,  caused  its  discontinuance,  in  spite  of  the  highly 
favorable  "  Recensionen "  which  it  received  from  the  most 
prominent  German  journals  and  literary  reviews.  Only 
romantic  and  fanciful  pictures  of  this  country,  or  what  was 
curiously  called  ' '  practical  advice, ' '  which  gave  price-lists  and 
statistics  that  were  out  of  date  the  very  next  year,  were  at  that 
time  relished  in  the  old  countries.  Doctor  Engelmann  was  the 
main  contributor,  furnishing  a  series  of  most  able  and  inter- 
esting articles.  Captain  Neyfeld  wrote  a  condensed,  but  very 
accurate  and  scientific,  topographical  and  statistical  descrip- 
tion of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  running  through  several  num- 
bers. Mr.  Hilgard,  Sr.,  William  Weber,  Friedrich  Muench 
and  I,  also  lent  aid  by  a  number  of  articles. 

THE    PUBLIC    LIBRARY    IN    BELLEVILLE 

As  Doctor  Engelmann  was  the  soul  of  this  enterprise,  so 
was  Dr.  Anton  Schott  the  soul  of  another,  the  foundation  of 
a  library  in  the  main  German  settlement  in  St.  Clair  County. 
Schott,  Reuss,  Engelmann,  all  the  Hilgards,  the  Wolfs,  Bun- 


413 

sen,  Berchelmann,  Ledergerber  and  the  Hildebrandts, 
founded  the  German  library  society  in  1836.  Liberal  dona- 
tions were  made,  mostly  of  German  books.  But  very  soon,  as 
the  society  increased  in  members,  and  the  yearly  contributions 
of  $3.00  became  more  numerous,  the  most  important  American 
historical  works,  memoirs  and  biographies  of  American  states- 
men were  purchased,  as  well  as  the  newest  and  best  German 
and  English  novels.  I  prepared  the  constitution  and  by-laws, 
and  also  drafted  a  charter,  which  a  few  years  afterwards  was 
granted  by  the  legislature.  The  best  English  and  German 
periodicals  were  soon  added,  and  I  got  our  member  of  Congress 
to  send  us  all  public  documents,  some  of  which  were  of  the 
greatest  value.  Doctor  Schott  kept  the  library  in  his  house, 
was  until  his  death  its  librarian  and  secretary,  and  devoted  a 
great  deal  of  his  time  and  energy  to  the  success  of  the  insti- 
tution. Some  time  in  1852  or  1853  it  was  moved  to  Belleville, 
and  later  on  consolidated  under  a  new  charter  with  the  library 
of  the  Belleville  Saengerbund.  In  1879,  it  consisted,  exclusive 
of  several  thousand  volumes  of  public  documents,  of  some  six 
thousand  volumes.  In  1883,  the  city  council  of  Belleville 
established  a  public  library,  appointed  a  directory  which  nego- 
tiated with  the  German  library  a  transfer  of  all  its  books  and 
furniture  to  the  public  library,  which  took  place  in  1884.  The 
public  library  of  Belleville  is  now  in  a  most  flourishing  condi- 
tion, containing  outside  of  some  six  thousand  well-bound  pub- 
lic documents,  nearly  seven  thousand  volumes.  So  our  library 
founded  in  1836  became  the  nucleus  of  our  present  highly  use- 
ful and  popular  public  library.  Save  when  I  was  absent  in 
Europe,  I  was  always  an  active  member  and  usually  a  director 
of  the  institution ;  and  I  may  say  I  take  as  much  pride  in  the 
exertions  I  made  during  all  this  time  in  securing  success  for 
our  library  as  in  anything  else  to  which  I  have  devoted  myself 
during  my  long  life.  I  cannot  refrain  from  mentioning,  also, 
the  name  of  Joseph  Kircher,  and,  at  a  later  period,  that  of  our 
model  school-man,  Henry  Raab,  as  most  able  and  untiring 
workers  in  the  same  field. 


414  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

JAMES  SHIELDS 

The  November  Presidential  election  was  less  exciting  than 
the  State  election  in  August.  Van  Buren  was  elected  over 
Gen.  William  Henry  Harrison  and  Judge  White  of  Tennessee. 

I  attended  the  fall  sessions  of  court  diligently.  In  one  or 
two  counties  Mr.  Snyder  was  able  to  be  with  me.  We  were 
defending  a  very  interesting  case  of  murder  in  Clinton  County, 
and  here  it  was  that  I  made  my  first  acquaintance  with  James 
Shields,  who  was  also  employed  by  the  defense.  I  did  not 
dream  then  how  often  the  lines  of  our  lives  would  touch  one 
another.  It  will  not  be  out  of  place,  therefore,  if  I  attempt 
to  give  here  an  outline  of  his  eventful  life  and  a  portraiture  of 
his  character.  In  stature  Shields  was  of  medium  height,  very 
broad-shouldered,  and  with  rather  long  arms.  His  complexion 
was  fair  and  healthy,  his  eyes  gray  and  very  sparkling.  In 
a  passion  they  seemed  to  shoot  fire.  His  hair  was  dark 
brown  and  his  features  quite  regular.  In  conversation 
he  spoke  rapidly  and  vivaciously,  showing  very  little  trace 
of  the  Irish  brogue.  He  was  not  an  orator,  but  a  ready 
debater.  His  mind  was  discriminating.  He  succeeded  better 
with  the  court  than  with  the  jury  and  on  the  stump.  Indeed, 
he  very  seldom  addressed  large  crowds  in  election  times.  He 
was  exceedingly  vain  and  very  ambitious,  and,  like  most  ambi- 
tious men,  on  occasions,  quite  egotistical.  But  he  was  not 
given  to  intrigues,  was  careless  about  money,  and,  in  spite  of 
his  many  opportunities  to  enrich  himself,  never  accumulated 
property;  in  fact,  if  a  few  years  before  he  died  he  had  not 
been  put  upon  the  retired  officers'  list  by  way  of  exception, 
which  granted  him  a  handsome  annual  pension,  he  would  have 
lived,  as  he  actually  did  for  many  years,  in  comparative  pov- 
erty. Upon  the  whole  his  ideas  were  lofty.  In  his  manner  he 
was  peculiar,  not  to  say  eccentric.  Although  he  had  not  had  a 
thorough  classical  education,  he  understood  Latin  pretty  well, 
and  had  picked  up  enough  French  to  read  it  and  understand 
it.  His  knowledge  of  English  literature  was  quite  extensive, 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  415 

and  so  was  his  knowledge  of  history,  particularly  modern  his- 
tory. 

He  was  a  native  of  the  county  of  Tyrone,  Ireland,  and 
came  to  this  country  probably  when  under  age,  first  to  South 
Carolina,  where  he  had  an  uncle  living,  but  leaving  afterwards 
when  he  became  of  age  to  teach  school  in  the  North.  Intimate 
as  I  was  with  him,  I  never  learned  anything  about  his  age. 
"Appleton's  Encyclopaedia"  has  it  that  he  was  born  in  1810. 
But  he  was  certainly  several  years  older  than  I  was  when  I 
first  met  him  at  Carlyle  in  the  Gennet  murder  case  in  1836. 
In  1831  or  1832  he  made  his  appearance  in  Kaskaskia,  and 
took  up  a  school  there,  reading  law  at  the  same  time,  I  believe, 
in  Senator  Kane's  office.  When  I  was  at  Kaskaskia  in  the 
March  term  of  1836  I  did  not  see  him.  He  was  not  then 
attending  court.  Mr.  Snyder,  when  he  canvassed  the  district 
for  Congress  that  year,  came  across  him,  and  at  once  formed 
a  high  idea  of  his  ability,  so  that  in  the  fall  when  he  defended 
Gennet,  being  unable  to  exert  himself  much,  he  invited  Shields 
to  assist  us.  I  opened  the  case.  Shields  examined  the  wit- 
nesses with  skill.  Snyder  made  a  brief  but  very  impressive 
speech.  It  was  a  tolerably  bad  case,  but  we  succeeded  in  clear- 
ing our  client,  a  farmer  living  where  Aviston  now  stands.  As 
Mr.  Snyder  had  soon  to  leave  for  Washington  to  attend  the 
special  session  of  Congress  in  1837,  and  as  his  health  was  such 
as  to  forbid  an  active  practice  at  the  bar  for  at  least  some 
years,  he  proposed  in  the  spring  of  the  year  to  retire  from 
practice.  Shields  in  the  meantime  had  been  elected  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  from  Randolph  County  to  fill  a  vacancy 
at  the  special  session  of  the  Legislature,  and  had  just  returned 
from  the  seat  of  government.  Mr.  Snyder  was  desirous  of 
having  Shields  at  Belleville,  and  suggested  to  both  of  us  to  go 
into  partnership.  In  June  we  formed  a  business-connection, 
and  we  succeeded  very  well,  but  had  to  dissolve  it  in  1841, 
Shields  having  been  elected  State  Auditor  by  the  Legislature. 
This  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  reside  at  Springfield.  While 
in  partnership  with  me  he  held  several  offices.  For  one  year 


416  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

he  was  secretary  to  Governor  Kinney,  who  had  been  made  one 
of  the  Internal  Improvement  Commissioners  for  this  part  of 
the  state,  under  the  gigantic  Internal  Improvement  System 
adopted  by  Illinois,  and  which  in  a  few  years  bankrupted  the 
state.  At  another  time  he  was  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  a  special  commissioner  to 
investigate  and  report  upon  charges  made  against  the  chief 
officer  of  a  land-office  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State.  In 
1842  he  was  reflected  to  the  Auditorship,  but  very  soon  after- 
wards he  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  by  Gov- 
ernor Ford,  to  fill  a  vacancy.  In  1845  he  was  appointed  Com- 
missioner of  the  General  Land-Office  in  Washington  by  Presi- 
dent Polk. 

"When  the  war  broke  out  in  Mexico  in  1846  he  was 
appointed  brigadier-general  of  the  Illinois  Volunteers.  First 
under  Taylor,  he  was  called  with  the  3rd  and  4th  Illinois  regi- 
ments to  Scott,  then  on  his  march  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  At 
Cerro  Gordo,  while  leading  his  brigade  against  a  battery,  he 
received  a  grape-shot  through  the  breast.  He  was  at  once 
reported  dead,  and  all  the  papers  contained  obituary  notices  of 
him.  But  he  recovered.  I  have  seen  the  mouth  of  the  wound 
and  where  it  came  out  at  the  back.  The  left  lobe  of  his  lung 
may  have  been  slightly  touched,  but  it  is  clear  that  the  ball 
went  around  the  ribs.  At  any  rate  he  recovered  in  a  few 
months,  so  that  he  was  able  to  command  a  brigade  consisting 
of  a  New  York  and  South  Carolina  regiment  at  Contreras  and 
again  at  the  storming  of  the  castle  of  Chapultepec  where  he 
received  another  very  painful  and  ugly  wound  in  his  right 
wrist.  On  his  return  to  Washington  he  was  made  a  major- 
general  by  brevet,  and  appointed  military  governor  of  Tam- 
pico  until  the  peace  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo  was  made  in 
1848 ;  and  before  he  returned  from  there  he  was  appointed  gov- 
ernor of  the  new  Territory  of  Oregon,  which  then  also  com- 
prised Washington  Territory.  But  he  resigned  the  place, 
came  back  to  Belleville  and  concluded  to  run  for  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  in  the  place  of  Breese,  whose  term  expired 


BEGINNING  TO  PRACTICE  417 

in  1849.  The  State  of  South  Carolina,  in  open  session  of  the 
Legislature,  presented  him  with  a  costly  jewelled  sword,  and 
so  did  the  State  of  Illinois  afterwards.  He  was  elected  Senator 
for  six  years.  He  lost  his  reelection,  having  joined  Douglas 
in  passing  the  unfortunate  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  which 
repealed  the  Missouri  Compromise.  Some  Democrats  opposed 
the  measure,  and  being  joined  by  all  the  "Whigs,  elected  Trum- 
bull  in  his  place,  who,  with  many  Democrats,  was  about  identi- 
fying himself  with  the  Republican  party.  Shields  felt  very 
much  mortified,  particularly  as  I,  being  then  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor,  could  not  actively  support  him,  because  I  had  from  the 
start  been  violently  opposed  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  and 
because  even  the  two  members  from  St.  Clair,  being  Demo- 
crats, did  not  for  the  same  reason  vote  for  him.  "When  Shields 
was  not  in  Washington,  he  spent  all  of  his  time  in  Belleville, 
and  we  had  daily  intercourse.  He  was  my  most  intimate 
American  friend.  Even  after  his  defeat  there  was  no  serious 
estrangement.  He  soon  after,  however,  left  the  State,  some- 
what disgusted. 

But  his  ill  success  was  his  own  fault.  Both  I  and  Gov- 
ernor Bissell,  who  was  then  a  member  of  Congress,  tried  our 
best  to  prevent  him  from  voting  for  the  ill-omened  bill,  and  I 
prophesied  that  it  would  defeat  his  election;  I  also  told  him 
from  the  start  that  I  could  not  support  him  unless  he  severed 
his  political  connections  with  Douglas.  He  moved  to  Minne- 
sota, and  was  there  again  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  Sen- 
ate. At  the  expiration  of  the  term,  he  went  to  California, 
married  an  Irish  girl  there,  but  when  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
broke  out  he  was  appointed  by  Lincoln,  brigadier,  then  major- 
general,  and  was  wounded  again  in  the  arm  near  Winchester 
in  a  fight  against  Stonewall  Jackson.  He  resigned  in  1863, 
and  after  staying  in  Washington  for  some  time,  returned  West 
and  bought  a  small  farm  near  Carrollton,  Missouri.  He  was 
elected  again  to  fill  a  short  vacancy  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate, and  also  at  a  later  time  to  the  lower  house  of  Congress,  but 
was  counted  out  by  the  Republicans,  though  he  had  been 


418  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

elected  by  a  very  large  majority.  When  he  was  in  Missouri 
we  resumed  correspondence,  and  he  visited  me  in  Belleville. 
In  1876  we  met  at  Chicago,  making  speeches  for  Tilden,  and 
were  as  friendly  as  ever.  In  1877  or  1878  he  visited  St.  Louis, 
and  I  went  over  and  stayed  with  him,  where  he  had  a  brilliant 
reception  at  Judge  John  Krum's  house.  This  was  our  last 
meeting.  He  died  in  1879,  while  on  a  lecturing  tour,  at 
Ottumwa,  Iowa. 

I  believe  he  held  more  offices  than  any  man  in  the  United 
States.  His  most  extraordinary  career  was  a  mystery  to 
many.  He  really  did  not  seek  popularity,  but  yet  had  a  sort 
of  winning  way  about  him  that  made  him  friends  quite  readily. 
Fond  himself  of  being  flattered,  he  paid  back  what  he  received 
in  the  same  coin.  Yet  when  he  could  not  persuade,  he  did  not 
fail  to  show  his  displeasure  and  to  become  an  open  enemy. 
When  attacked,  he  struck  back.  I  knew  all  his  weaknesses, 
and  his  vanity  amused  me.  When  asked  why  I  liked  him  and 
fought  for  him  so  much,  I  really  had  no  particular  answer  to 
make.  It  was  his  enthusiasm,  I  believe;  even  his  impulsive- 
ness. He  took  the  warmest  interest  in  all  revolutions,  particu- 
larly in  the  German  rising  of  1848  and  in  the  Hungarian  revo- 
lution. He  idolized  Kossuth,  and  became  a  warm  personal 
friend  of  Hecker,  to  whom  I  had  introduced  him.  He  never 
went  to  church  that  I  know  of,  and  as  he  was  an  ardent  Free- 
mason, I  do  not  believe  he  could  have  been  a  Catholic,  though 
coming  from  a  Catholic  neighborhood  in  Ireland.  Messrs. 
Hay  and  Nicolay,  in  their  monumental  history  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  which  ran  for  years  in  the  Century  Magazine,  did 
Shields  great  injustice.  And  it  was  with  great  pleasure  that  I 
vindicated  his  memory  in  the  same  review  in  a  manner  that 
gave  great  satisfaction  all  over  the  country. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Early  Illinois  Politics 

On  the  sixth  of  April,  1837,  our  eldest  boy  was  born.  We 
named  him  Charles  Bernard  Theodore,  for  my  brother  Charles, 
for  my  father  Bernard,  and  for  Mr.  Engelmann  whose  name 
was  Frederick  Theodore.  Charles  Theodore  Koerner,  the  war- 
rior-poet of  Germany,  was  also  in  our  minds  when  giving  the 
little  boy  his  name.  It  added  much  to  my  happiness  when  I 
learned  from  my  mother  and  Charles  and  sisters,  with  what 
extreme  gladness  this  event  filled  their  hearts. 

I  have  spoken  already  of  the  great  Internal  Improvement 
System  upon  which  our  State  had  entered.  It  required  the 
appointment  of  numerous  surveyors  and  civil  engineers,  and 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  having  it  in  my  power  to  obtain  employ- 
ment on  it  for  John  Scheel,  who  was  made  assistant  engineer 
for  our  part  of  the  State,  —  which  appointment  at  once  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  marry  our  youngest  sister,  the  kind-hearted 
and  amiable  Betty,  to  whom  he  had  been  engaged  for  some 
time.  Although  this  vast  scheme  of  improvement  broke  down 
in  about  three  years,  it  gave  John  a  position  such  that  he  was 
soon  after  elected  county-surveyor,  and  from  that  employment 
he  got  into  other  lucrative  offices,  accumulating  a  fortune, 
which  at  the  time  he  died  was  considered  large.  At  the  time 
of  his  death  he  was  revenue-assessor  of  the  United  States  for 
this  district,  having  been  appointed  by  President  Lincoln.  He 
also  served  one  term  in  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  in  1858. 

FURTHER  ACCESSIONS  TO  THE  GERMAN  SETTLEMENT 

Our  German  population  in  the  county  still  kept  on 
increasing.  The  family  of  Hildebrandt,  also  the  Raith  fam- 


420 

ily,  both  from  Wuertemberg,  settled  not  far  from  Belleville, 
and  Mr.  Adolph  Hildebrandt,  jeweler  and  watch-maker, 
moved  to  Belleville.  About  the  same  time  the  Michel  family 
from  the  Haardt  in  the  Palatinate  and  several  other  new-com- 
ers made  Belleville  their  residence.  Edward  Hilgard,  who  had 
married  Emma  Hilgard,  and  Fred  Wolf,  first  bought  a  brew- 
ery in  the  town,  but  not  long  afterwards  built  a  steam-distil- 
lery on  Mr.  Hilgard 's  land  in  West  Belleville.  Unfortunately, 
Emma,  so  beautiful  and  so  sweet,  died  a  year  afterwards,  and 
Edward  sold  his  farm  and  his  share  in  the  distillery  and  went 
back  to  Germany.  My  friend  Oonradi  and  Frederick  Hilgard 
bought  a  mill  in  Mechanicsburg,  now  Mascoutah,  and  flour- 
ished there  for  some  time,  but  both  gave  it  up  after  a  few 
years.  Frederick  returned  to  Germany  and  Conradi  took  a 
place  as  clerk  in  St.  Louis. 

One  of  the  most  pleasant  arrivals  to  me  was  that  of  my 
old  Jena  friend,  Dr.  Adolph  Wislizenus,  who  had  luckily  made 
his  escape  from  Frankfort  in  the  night  of  the  third  of  April, 
1833.  He  had  found  his  way  to  New  York  in  1834,  and  late 
in  1837  came  to  Belleville;  but  he  went  to  Mechanicsburg  to 
practice,  and  soon  after  settled  in  St.  Louis.  In  my  ' '  German 
Element, ' '  page  333,  I  have  given  much  space  to  the  life  of  this 
very  amiable  and  also  very  scientific  friend  of  mine,  in  which 
I  referred  to  his  very  romantic  marriage  at  Constantinople 
with  Miss  Lucy  Crane,  sister-in-law  of  that  eminent  linguist 
and  most  distinguished  diplomatist,  George  P.  Marsh,  then  our 
Minister  to  Turkey.  In  the  "Life  and  Letters"  of  the  late 
Mr.  Marsh,  in  one  of  his  letters  of  August  4,  1850,  to  Lady 
Estcourt,  he  speaks  of  this  marriage  as  follows : 

"You  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  surprised  at  the  news  I  have  to 
give,  for  I  am  surprised  to  have  it  to  tell.  Doctor  Wislizenus, 
our  family  physician  at  Washington,  arrived  here  a  few  weeks 
ago  and  has  had  the  eloquence  to  persuade  sister  Lucy  to 
return  with  him  to  America  as  his  wife.  The  attachment  has 
been  of  long  standing ;  but  some  two  years  ago,  when  the  thing 
was  first  proposed,  our  parents  expressed  a  feeling  of  regret 
that  Lucy  should  marry  a  foreigner  —  for  this  was  the  only 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  421 

objection  made  —  and  she  yielded  to  their  wishes.  But  the 
presence  of  the  Doctor  here  revived  her  old  fancy  and  we  none 
of  us  thought  it  worth  while  to  press  such  an  objection  farther. 
The  Doctor  has  an  excellent  reputation,  and  his  strong  passion 
for  botany  and  geology  has  enabled  him  to  make  valuable  con- 
tributions to  these  sciences,  as  Humboldt  acknowledges  in  his 
"Ansichten  der  Natur."  After  all  I  thought  his  uncommon 
musical  accomplishments  went  farther  than  anything  else  to 
win  my  sister's  heart." 

In  the  course  of  this  correspondence,  Mr.  Marsh  fre- 
quently refers  to  the  doctor  and  his  wife.  Letters  from  Mrs. 
Marsh  occurring  in  the  book  show  her  not  only  to  have  been 
very  intellectual,  but  also  witty  and  humorous.  Her  sister, 
Mrs.  Wislizenus,  must  have  had  similar  qualities,  for  Mr. 
Marsh  remarks  in  one  of  his  letters  that  Lucy  is  as  good  if  not 
a  better  letter-writer  than  his  wife. 

About  the  same  time  Charles  and  Edward  Tittmann,  hav- 
ing left  New  York,  also  took  up  their  residence  at  Belleville. 
Edward,  it  will  be  remembered,  I  had  met  before  at  Frank- 
fort, a  day  or  two  before  the  third  of  April.  Both  were  young 
men  of  exceptionally  fine  manners,  and  highly  educated. 
Charles  was  of  a  rather  reserved  and  serious  disposition,  an 
excellent  mathematician,  pursuing  his  studies  in  that  line 
even  after  he  and  Edward  had  gone  into  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness. Edward  was  of  a  more  cheerful  and  sociable  character, 
and  soon  became  a  favorite  in  Belleville  society. 

But  I  cannot  name  all  the  cultivated  Germans  who  settled 
during  this  and  the  following  year  in  Belleville  and  St.  Clair 
County,  and  I  will  mention  only  one  or  two  more.  Dr.  Albert 
Trapp,  an  exile,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  in  detail  in  my  ' '  Ger- 
man Element,"  who  settled  twelve  miles  south  of  Belleville, 
but  somewhat  later  moved  to  Belleville  and  became  for  some 
years  our  family  physician,  when  he  left  Belleville  and  Doctor 
Berchelmann  took  his  place. 

Another  university  friend  from  Heidelberg,  Henry 
Schleth,  who  had  escaped  from  prison  in  Kiel,  had  gone  to 
Switzerland,  had  participated  in  Mazzini's  attempt  at  a  rev- 


422  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNEE 

olution  in  Piedmont,  and  had  been  driven  out  of  Switzerland 
and  France,  had,  after  a  short  stay  in  England,  arrived  at 
New  Orleans,  from  where  he  addressed  me  and  asked  me  for 
advice.  Upon  my  invitation  he  came  to  St.  Clair  and  went 
upon  the  Engelmann  farm;  but  in  1838  I  found  some  tem- 
porary employment  for  him  in  Belleville.  He  then  went  upon 
Ledergerber's  farm,  where  he  worked  for  some  years,  when  he 
finally  returned  to  Belleville  and  held  several  offices,  finally 
going  into  the  mercantile  business.  In  1880,  he  acted  as  my 
amanuensis  and  copied  all  the  manuscript  of  my  work,  the 
" German  Element."  He  was  of  a  very  quiet  temperament, 
had  an  excellent  mind,  social  habits,  and  enjoyed  for  many 
years  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  Belleville  people,  dying 
after  a  long  protracted  illness  some  years  ago. 

August  Hassel,  who  was  a  law  student  at  Munich  while  I 
was  there,  settled  in  Belleville,  and  married  some  time  after- 
wards a  Miss  Raith.  He  was  a  very  talented  man,  rather 
excitable,  very  fond  of  politics,  and  full  of  life  and  animation. 
He  also  went  into  the  mercantile  business,  but  moved  to  St. 
Louis,  where  he  died  of  the  cholera  in  1850.  I  believe  Henry 
and  Hermann  Von  Haxthausen,  of  Westphalia,  bought  a  farm 
a  mile  or  so  south  of  the  Engelmanns.  Hermann,  I  believe, 
returned  to  Europe,  and  Henry  left  St.  Clair  and  bought  him- 
self a  farm  in  Monroe  County.  Ewald  Von  Massow,  having 
made  his  escape  from  the  fortress  of  Colberg,  where  he  was 
confined  for  having  been  a  member  of  the  Burschenschaft, 
crossed  the  ocean  with  his  mother,  and  after  awhile,  I  might 
almost  say  naturally,  made  St.  Clair  his  home,  bought  a  farm 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Engelmanns,  but  moved  in  later 
years  to  Belleville,  where  he  bought  a  four-acre  tract  of  land 
on  which  he  built  a  residence.  His  health,  however,  was  very 
much  broken,  he  having  been  confined  in  prison  before  his  trial 
for  some  two  years  and  in  the  casemates  of  the  fortress  for 
nearly  the  same  time. 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  423 

PRO-GERMAN    CONVENTIONS 

To  the  very  notable  German  convention  at  Pittsburg,  Oct. 
18,  1837,  the  library  association  of  St.  Clair  sent  "William 
Weber  as  a  delegate,  he  having  been  appointed  also  the  dele- 
gate of  prominent  Germans  in  St.  Louis.  The  object  of  the 
convention  was  to  devise  means  to  maintain  the  German  lan- 
guage, to  sustain  the  German  press,  to  establish  a  central  Nor- 
mal School  for  the  education  of  German  teachers,  and  to  protest 
and  counteract  the  efforts  of  the  nativistic  American  societies. 
The  object  was  in  part  obtained.  A  very  able  and  strong 
address  to  the  Germans  was  issued,  a  central  committee  ap- 
pointed, and  a  teachers'  seminary  established  at  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania.  It  was  not  intended,  however,  to  create  a  sep- 
arate German  party.  Far  from  it,  the  Germans  were  admon- 
ished to  become  naturalized,  to  familiarize  themselves  with  the 
language,  the  constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  country,  to 
retain  what  was  good  in  the  German  character  and  to  adopt 
cheerfully  what  was  good  in  the  American.  "While  one  of  the 
"Instructions,"  which  I  was  charged  to  prepare,  condemned 
and  denounced  in  the  strongest  terms  the  principles  of  the 
nativistic  American  party,  another  read  as  follows :  ' '  We  are 
of  opinion  that  no  number  of  persons  emigrated  from  foreign 
soil  should  form  a  separate  commonwealth  amongst  a  people 
already  settled  and  not  inferior  in  culture;  that  such  an 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  German  immigrants  would,  just  on 
account  of  their  number,  be  injurious  to  the  welfare  and  the 
permanence  of  this  free  country,  which  alone,  among  all  other 
States,  offers  by  its  liberal  institutions  a  consolation  to  every 
right-thinking  man." 

This  meeting  and  several  subsequent  ones,  held  at  Pitts- 
burg  and  Phillipsburg,  in  their  resolutions  and  addresses, 
conformed  to  the  spirit  of  our  instructions.  It  would  take  me 
too  far,  were  I  to  give  a  history  of  this  movement  and  its  Nor- 
mal School,  which  was  carried  on  for  some  years.  Suffice  it 
to  say,  that  the  latter,  owing  to  many  circumstances,  particu- 
larly of  a  financial  character,  had  to  be  given  up.  Yet  this 


424  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

early  movement  of  the  Germans  gave  a  tremendous  impulse  to 
the  German  press,  to  the  formation  of  literary  and  musical 
and  school  societies,  and,  what  was  perhaps  the  most  important 
result,  made  the  American  people  and  particularly  the  Ameri- 
can politicians  aware  that  there  was  a  large  population  among 
them  who  knew  their  rights  and  were  willing  to  maintain  them 
and  that  they  had  to  be  taken  into  account.  Native  Ameri- 
cans found  a  determined  opponent  in  the  ' '  Anzeiger  des  Wes- 
tens, ' '  and  indeed  in  all  German  papers,  and  I  took  good  care 
to  have  the  strongest  and  most  exhaustive  articles  translated, 
and  these  made  the  rounds  of  a  great  many  Democratic  jour- 
nals. It  must  be  said  that  the  Democratic  party  from  that 
time  on,  in  victory  or  defeat,  never  abandoned  the  cause  of  the 
aliens  who  came  here  to  become  citizens,  which  accounts  for 
the  fact  that  the  Germans  almost  unanimously  voted  with  that 
party  until  the  slavery  question  in  1856  carried  most  of  them 
into  the  Republican  party,  and  down  to  the  reconstruction  of 
the  Union  in  1868. 

I  was  elected  a  delegate,  together  with  three  other  gentle- 
men from  St.  Glair  County,  to  a  Democratic  State  Convention 
held  in  December,  1837,  to  nominate  candidates  for  Governor 
and  other  State  officers.  Colonel  Stephenson  was  nominated 
for  Governor.  He  resided  in  Galena,  was  one  of  the  land- 
officers  of  the  northern  district,  and  had  distinguished  himself 
in  the  Black  Hawk  War.  The  weather  was  bitterly  cold,  and 
the  accommodations  in  Vandalia  miserable.  The  biggest  tav- 
ern there  was  but  a  large,  high  frame  shed.  In  every  room 
were  two  or  three  double  beds,  and  at  least  one  hundred  dele- 
gates stopped  there.  The  only  place  to  wash  was  at  a  pump 
before  the  house,  where  a  couple  of  tin  basins  stood  on  a  bench. 
We  had  to  go  down  from  our  rooms  and  walk  to  the  pump, 
which  was  almost  a  break-neck  job,  as  the  spilt  water  around  it 
had  frozen  into  ice.  We  had  to  pull  off  our  coats  and  wash 
and  comb  our  hair  in  a  stiff  northwestern  wind.  The  journey 
home  was  a  most  trying  one.  The  cold  had  increased  to  about 
zero  Fahrenheit,  the  wind  being  in  our  faces.  Every  five  or 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  425 

six  miles  I  had  to  dismount  and  walk  to  get  warm.  It  took 
me  two  days  to  get  to  Belleville.  The  cold  and  the  bad  tavern 
had  one  advantage,  however;  it  made  the  meeting  very  short 
and  gave  little  chance  for  political  trading.  We  got  through 
in  one  day.  Colonel  Stephenson  died  in  the  spring,  and 
another  convention  nominated  Thomas  Carlin,  of  Quincy,  who 
was  elected  in  August,  1838. 

LYMAN  TRUMBULL 

In  the  fall  of  1837  Lyman  Trumbull  came  to  Belleville 
and  formed  a  brief  partnership  with  Governor  Reynolds  for 
the  practice  of  the  law.  He  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  some 
four  years  younger  than  I,  and  had  been  teaching  school  for 
some  years  in  Georgia,  studying  law  at  the  same  time.  As  he 
became  a  leading  man  hi  Illinois,  and  even  in  the  United 
States,  and  came  into  close  relations  with  me,  it  seems  right 
that  I  should  here  give  a  sketch  of  his  character  and  of  his 
political  life.  He  was  tall,  well-proportioned,  with  a  slight 
stoop,  probably  owing  to  his  great  short-sightedness,  and  had 
rather  light  hair  and  blue  eyes.  His  complexion  was  very 
pale.  His  features  were  regular  and  handsome.  For  so 
young  a  lawyer  he  was  a  very  good  one,  and  his  addresses  to 
the  court  and  jury  were  logical  and  impressive,  and,  when 
roused,  rather  incisive.  On  occasions  his  smile  was  sneeringly 
sardonic.  While  for  lack  of  a  strong  imagination  he  could  not 
be  called  an  orator,  he  was  a  powerful  and  successful  debater. 
He  was  a  man  of  indomitable  industry,  which  in  itself  is  a 
great  element  of  success.  In  my  opinion,  however,  his  princi- 
pal power  lay  in  his  ability  to  concentrate  his  mind  upon  a 
few  subjects.  His  aim  was  to  become  a  great  lawyer,  and  to 
play  a  conspicuous  part  in  politics.  To  everything  else  he 
seemed  indifferent.  Ancient  or  modern  literature,  the  sciences, 
music,  and  the  fine  arts  in  general,  had  no  charms  for  him. 
Nor  did  he  find  any  pleasure  in  social  intercourse.  While 
his  manners  were  decorous,  he  was  reserved,  not  to  say  cold. 
In  politics  a  radical  Democrat,  he  obtained,  on  account  of  his 


426  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERXER 

undoubted  ability,  in  the  course  of  time  a  large  following 
amongst  the  politicians  of  his  party,  though  amongst  the  peo- 
ple at  large  he  never  could  be  said  to  have  been  popular. 
During  the  first  period  of  his  political  life,  on  account  of  his 
extreme  views,  he  often  fell  under  the  suspicion  of  being  a 
demagogue,  and  he  met  in  consequence  very  bitter  opposition 
even  in  his  own  party.  This  was  my  view  of  Mr.  Trumbull 
during  the  first  years  of  our  acquaintance.  After  we  had 
both  become  members  of  the  Republican  party  our  relations 
became  far  more  friendly  than  ever  before,  in  fact  intimate. 
And  in  the  course  of  time  I  found  that  in  some  respects  he 
had  changed  greatly  to  his  advantage.  His  views  had  become 
broader  and  more  statesmanlike,  and  he  acquired  a  leading 
position  in  the  United  States  Senate.  He  lost  a  great  deal 
of  his  coldness,  and  I  found  that  for  friends  he  could  feel  very 
warmly  and  act  most  efficiently.  After  his  retirement  from 
public  life  he  resided  at  Chicago.  Our  intercourse  was  then 
not  so  frequent,  but  when  we  met  it  was  very  friendly  and 
cordiaL 

Trumbull  being  as  ambitious  as  Shields,  a  strong  rivalry 
between  the  two  soon  arose,  in  law  as  well  as  in  polities,  and 
led  to  bitter  feuds.  Recognizing  as  I  did  the  great  merits  of 
Trumbull 's  character,  in  spite  of  some  unpleasant  features  of 
it,  I  could  not  enter  into  Shields 's  feeling  of  hostility,  and  my 
position  often  became  embarrassing.  Insulting  language  was 
used  by  both  in  court,  explanations  were  asked,  and  sometimes 
refused ;  challenges  were  extended,  not  only  by  Shields,  but  by 
some  of  his  friends.  I  acted  as  peace-maker,  and  succeeded 
in  preventing  threats  from  becoming  acts. 

At  this  time  I  became  somewhat  acquainted  with  both  the 
sweets  and  the  sorrows  of  political  life.  The  Germans  were 
coming  into  St.  Clair,  Monroe,  Madison.  "Washington,  Clinton 
and  Randolph  Counties  in  great  numbers.  Being  entitled  at 
that  time  to  vote  after  six  months'  residence  in  all  elections, 
the  American  politicians  had  to  take  them  into  anxious  con- 
sideration. In  all  the  different  counties  people  had  come  to 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  427 

believe  that  I  could  control  the  German  vote.  They  judged 
the  Germans  by  themselves ;  for  it  is  true  that  the  American 
people  are  very  much  given  to  be  led  by  active,  able  and  ener- 
getic men,  now  called  ''bosses."  Now  while  amongst  the 
Germans  a  countryman  of  theirs  may  be  respected,  may, 
through  the  press  and  by  public  speaking,  gradually  mold 
their  minds  into  agreeing  with  him  in  public  matters,  the  com- 
mon notion  that  the  Germans  can  be  "bossed"  as  readily  as 
the  Americans  or  Irish,  or  other  nationalities  in  this  country, 
is  altogether  a  grave  mistake.  At  any  rate  I  was  constantly 
called  on  for  help  by  aspiring  candidates  an(J  consequently 
very  often  placed  in  a  difficult  position. 

When,  for  instance,  I  was  a  delegate  to  the  State  Con- 
vention at  Vandalia  in  1837,  Mr.  Snyder,  whose  Congressional 
term  was  soon  to  expire,  feeling  just  then  considerably  better, 
wished  to  be  a  candidate  at  the  approaching  election  for  Gov- 
ernor. Judge  Breese,  who  was  then  on  the  bench,  and  was 
very  friendly  to  me,  also  desired  my  support,  as  did  Gov- 
ernor Reynolds.  Of  course  I  could  not  hesitate.  Mr.  Snyder 
was  as  competent  as  any  of  his  rivals,  his  character  was  open 
and  sincere,  and  his  friendship  to  me  really  knew  no  bounds. 
But  neither  of  these  gentlemen  had  any  chance  in  the  conven- 
tion. All  the  governors  of  the  State  thus  far  naturally 
enough  had  been  taken  from  the  south  of  the  State,  since  the 
great  bulk  of  the  population  then  lived  south.  But  for  the 
last  four  or  five  years  a  large  population  had  been  pouring 
into  the  northern  part  of  our  State  from  New  England, 
New  York  and  even  Ohio.  They  were  mostly  intelligent,  ener- 
getic and  calculating  people,  and  in  politics  better  schooled, 
as  far  as  organization  was  concerned,  than  we  in  the  south. 
Their  delegates  combining  with  the  delegates  from  the  middle 
part,  insisted  upon  nominating  a  northern  man.  Perhaps  we 
could  have  still  nominated  Snyder,  he  being  popular  every- 
where, but  his  rivals  reported  his  health  as  so  hopelessly  bad 
that  it  seemed  to  many,  even  of  his  friends,  imprudent  to 
nominate  him.  And  yet  was  it  not  a  most  singular  coinci- 


428  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

denee  that  the  man  then  nominated,  Colonel  Stephenson  of 
Galena,  died  within  four  or  five  months  after  his  nomination 
of  consumption,  while  Mr.  Snyder  did  not  succumb  to  that 
terrible  disease  until  five  years  later! 

Mr.  Snyder  after  this  convention  feeling  tolerably  well 
for  some  time,  his  friends  desired  him  to  run  for  Congress 
again,  and  he  in  a  measure  consented,  but  placed  the  matter 
into  my  hands.  Judge  Breese  also  insisted  upon  being  a  can- 
didate and  wrote  to  me  pressingly  on  the  subject.  So  did 
Reynolds.  Here  was  another  dilemna,  from  which  I  was  soon 
released  by  a  most  dangerous  attack  of  hemorrhage  overtak- 
ing Mr.  Snyder  in  Washington.  For  nearly  a  month  his  life 
was  despaired  of.  Yet  he  managed  to  write  me  almost  every 
week,  if  only  a  few  lines,  and  he  declined  being  a  candidate. 
"While  Mr.  Snyder  was  aspiring  and  ambitious,  yet  in  all  his 
conversations  and  letters  he  never  urged  his  claims  as  abso- 
lute. He  was  always  willing  to  subordinate  them  to  what  he 
supposed  was  the  good  of  his  party.  He  was  one  of  the  least 
selfish  politicians  I  have  ever  known.  In  one  respect  his  Ger- 
man descent  showed  itself  most  plainly  —  he  was  "gemueth- 
lich."  His  letters  to  me  are  full  of  warmth  and  in  conver- 
sation he  was  full  of  good-natured  humor. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  politicians  are  greatly  misjudged  by 
the  mass  of  the  people.  They  are  charged  with  inconsistency, 
insincerity,  ingratitude,  tergiversation,  and  what  not.  No 
doubt  a  good  many  are  guilty  of  one  or  another  of  these  vices, 
but  a  very  large  experience  in  politics  has  convinced  me  that 
as  a  rule  this  bad  opinion  is  not  deserved.  If  people  would 
only  reflect  what  temptations  political  life  offers,  they  would 
take  a  more  charitable  view  of  the  case.  One  aspires  to  an 
office  or  other  high  position.  Some  friends  support  him 
because  they  are  really  friendly  to  him  without  any  after- 
thought; others  advocate  his  claims  expecting  favors.  When 
the  candidate  has  succeeded,  he  may  overlook  his  true  friends 
entirely ;  and  then  comes  the  charge  of  ingratitude ;  he  cannot 
return  favors  to  all,  and  so  he  often  converts  friends  into  bit- 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  429 

ter  foes.  Promises  are  often  made  in  good  faith  which 
through  unexpected  circumstances  cannot  be  fulfilled.  Then 
the  candidate  is  blamed  for  insincerity.  Again:  Two  or 
more  candidates  solicit  the  aid  of  a  politician.  Perhaps  all 
are  his  friends.  One  has  to  be  finally  disappointed,  and  then 
comes  the  charge  of  duplicity.  One  may  on  principle  advo- 
cate a  measure  strongly  at  one  time  which  at  another  time 
under  a  change  of  affairs  may  appear  to  him  fraught  with 
disaster.  He  will  be  denounced  as  a  renegade.  I  have  myself 
very  often  in  my  long  political  career  thus  been  placed  be- 
tween Scylla  and  Charybdis.  In  general,  I  believe  I  have 
sustained  a  character  for  frankness,  which  I  ascribe  princi- 
pally to  the  fact  that  I  had  early  learned  to  say  ' '  No. ' '  Who- 
ever has  not  taught  himself  that  important  monosyllable  will 
make  many  bad  slips  and  deserve  the  condemnation  which  is 
usually  meted  out  to  politicians. 

LEGAL   LABORS 

At  the  Congressional  election  Governor  Reynolds  was 
successful  again.  Mr.  Snyder,  as  stated,  had  declined.  There 
was  not  much  political  excitement.  But  our  law  business  had 
increased.  Hard  times  had  already  begun ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
spirit  of  speculation  was  subsiding.  The  State-banks  all  over 
the  country  had  temporarily  suspended  redemption  of  their 
notes  in  specie.  They  of  course  stopped  their  liberal  discount- 
ing of  notes,  and  commenced  suits  to  collect  their  debts. 
Their  debtors,  principally  merchants  and  business  men,  turned 
around  to  sue  their  customers,  farmers  and  mechanics.  Near- 
ly all  business  for  the  last  two  or  three  years  had  been  done 
on  credit.  A  branch  of  the  State  Bank  at  Springfield  had 
been  established  in  Belleville  and  our  firm  had  been  made  its 
attorneys.  We  were  kept  quite  busy,  and  two  young  gentle- 
men, studying  law  in  our  office,  had  their  hands  full  in  copy- 
ing or  drafting  pleadings  after  forms  made  out  by  us,  —  the 
use  of  printed  blanks  for  legal  papers,  deeds,  mortgages,  etc., 
being  at  that  time  unknown,  or  rather  unused,  in  the  West. 


430  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Besides  that,  I  had  in  the  summer  of  1838  undertaken 
a  task  involving  great  labor.  The  German  population  was 
already  large  in  our  State,  and  was  daily  becoming  more  so. 
Our  statutes  had  just  been  very  ably  revised  and  collected 
in  what  is  called  "The  Revised  Laws  of  Illinois,"  1833.  To 
most  of  the  new-comers  this  compilation  was  a  sealed  book.  I 
thought  it  would  be  a  great  benefit  to  this  class  of  citizens 
to  translate  the  State  Constitution  and  the  most  general  and 
important  laws,  such  as  those  which  related  to  the  mode  of 
conveying  real  estate  and  to  mortgages,  to  notes  and  bills  of 
exchange,  legal  interest,  the  administration  of  the  estates  of 
deceased  persons,  to  wills  and  testaments,  to  the  enclosure  of 
fields  and  so  forth.  The  criminal  code,  adopted  principally 
from  the  Virginia  Criminal  Code,  drafted  by  Jefferson,  was 
an  excellent  and  quite  well  arranged  collection  of  laws  on 
crimes  and  offenses,  and  I  translated  it  entirely,  adding  to  it 
a  translation  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which,  strange  to  say,  had 
never  been  translated  into  German  by  anyone  who  was  a 
jurist  and  who  truly  understood  these  documents.  Some 
footnotes  of  an  explanatory  character  were  added.  The  book 
contained  two  hundred  and  forty-five  pages,  was  printed  in 
St.  Louis  by  William  Weber,  and  was  the  first  German  book 
printed  in  what  was  then  the  Far  West.  Though  the  price 
was  two  dollars,  it  was  out  of  print  in  a  few  years. 

I  must  say  I  worked  hard  during  that  hot  summer.  I 
employed  my  friend  Henry  Schleth  to  do  the  copying  and  in 
a  few  weeks  he  had  so  far  improved  his  English  that  I  could 
entrust  him  with  translating  some  portions  of  the  work,  leav- 
ing to  me  only  the  revision.  A  remarkable  feature  of  the 
book  is  that  there  is  not  one  misprint  in  it,  showing  how  care- 
ful the  proof-reading  by  Theodore  Engelmann  and  William 
Weber  must  have  been. 

In  this  year  falls  a  criminal  case  which  at  the  time  at- 
tracted much  attention,  and,  as  it  reached  the  Supreme  Court, 
established  a  legal  precedent  of  importance.  Both  Shields 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  431 

and  I  were  engaged  in  this  case,  and  it  is  in  many  respects 
so  interesting  that  I  feel  inclined  to  speak  of  it. 

Antoine  Gykowski,  an  exiled  Pole,  who  had  been  an  of- 
ficer in  the  Polish  army,  like  many  of  his  companions,  had 
to  take  here  whatever  position  he  could  get  in  order  to  live. 
He  had  been  employed  by  the  keeper  of  a  grog-shop  as  bar- 
keeper in  a  small  town  in  Fayette  County.  He  could  hardly 
understand  English.  One  morning  a  young  fellow,  who  often 
took  his  drinks  at  the  place,  came  in  somewhat  tipsy,  and,  be- 
coming pretty  noisy,  got  it  into  his  head  to  make  fun  of 
Gykowski,  who  did  not  seem  to  relish  it.  The  young  man, 
who  really  was  not  offensive  when  sober,  rather  playfully,  as 
the  witnesses  stated,  hit  Gykowski  over  the  head  and  shoulders 
with  a  small  twig,  which  he  had  used  for  a  riding  whip. 
Gykowski 's  face  became  flushed,  he  looked  wild,  opened  a 
drawer  beneath  the  bar,  took  out  a  pistol,  and  shot  and  in- 
stantly killed  the  young  fellow.  This  act  created  immense 
excitement.  Gykowski  immediately  surrendered  himself  to 
the  officers.  Alexander  P.  Field,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  be- 
fore, undertook  or  rather  volunteered  to  defend  him.  Field 
was  a  most  able  advocate,  but  as  a  good  many  nice  legal  points 
appeared  likely  to  present  themselves,  he  asked  us  to  assist 
him.  Of  course,  neither  of  us  had  any  expectation  of  re- 
ceiving compensation.  But  here  was  a  stranger,  without  a 
friend  or  a  countryman  to  stand  by  him.  So  we  enlisted  in 
his  cause.  By  a  change  of  venue,  the  case  was  tried  before 
Judge  Breese  at  Carlyle  in  Clinton  County.  The  charge,  of 
course,  was  murder,  a  conviction  for  which  at  that  time  in- 
curred the  death  penalty.  Now  of  course  we  had  no  idea  of 
clearing  him  entirely.  The  provocation  was  not  strong  enough 
to  justify  his  having  acted  in  self-defense.  We  expected  to 
make  out  a  case  of  manslaughter,  which  then  was  only  an  of- 
fense imprisonable  in  the  penitentiary  for  not  exceeding  two 
years.  The  great  and  almost  insurmountable  difficulty  was  this, 
however:  How  could  we  make  it  clear  to  a  jury,  made  up 
mostly  of  backwoods  people,  that  a  gentleman,  an  ex-officer, 


432  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

would  necessarily  feel  the  hitting  of  him  with  a  switch  as  an 
insult  gross  enough  to  arouse  an  uncontrollable  passion.  To 
a  common  man,  particularly  an  ordinary  keeper  of  a  low 
grog-shop,  belonging  to  a  class  generally  considered  disrep- 
utable, the  act  of  the  young  man  would  not  have  been  an  in- 
sult at  all,  and  therefore  could  not  have  caused  such  an  ebul- 
lition of  passion.  Gykowski  must  have  premeditated  the 
killing!  Such  was  the  reasoning  in  the  community  in  which 
this  homicide  had  happened.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fact 
that  the  pistol  was  so  handy,  did  not  make  against  our  client, 
since  it  was  then  and  is  even  now  a  common  custom  in  such 
establishments  to  keep  a  pistol  near  at  hand;  for  such  places 
are  often  visited  by  drunken  desperadoes  against  whom  the 
owners  have  to  defend  themselves. 

The  trial  lasted  two  days,  and  in  spite  of  all  our  efforts 
the  jury  found  Gykowski  guilty  of  murder.  We  made  a  mo- 
tion for  a  new  trial,  alleging  as  the  principal  reason,  that 
against  the  direct  provision  of  the  statute  one  of  the  jurors 
had  been  an  alien,  which  we  did  not  know  at  the  time  of  our 
defense.  The  fact  was  true.  The  man,  an  Irishman,  had  been 
living  in  the  county  some  twenty  years,  but  had  never  been 
naturalized.  Breese  overruled  our  motion,  and  the  sentence 
of  death  was  pronounced  on  Gykowski,  who  took  it  quite 
manfully.  We  appealed,  reversed  the  judgment,  and  at  the 
second  trial  got  a  verdict  of  manslaughter,  with  only  two 
years'  penitentiary.  I  took  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  the  case, 
and  so  did  the  people  in  Garlyle  after  awhile.  Gykowski  was 
treated  very  kindly  in  jail,  received  visitors,  nay,  even  when 
he  was  under  sentence  of  death,  was  allowed  to  go  about 
town,  having  given  his  word  of  honor  that  he  would  not  at- 
tempt to  escape.  I  furnished  him  from  time  to  time  with 
French  books.  And  in  the  penitentiary  he  was  at  once  put 
into  the  clerk's  office,  where  he  had  no  hard  labor  to  perform. 

This,  among  some  twenty  cases  in  which  I  had  the  de- 
fense for  murder  before  the  war,  was  the  only  one  in  which 
my  client  was  found  guilty  of  that  crime.  Some  of  these 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  433 

were  most  dramatic  cases  of  strong  circumstantial  evidence: 
one  in  Randolph,  where  one  Best  was  charged  with  the  mur- 
der of  his  own  daughter,  a  beautiful  woman,  and  another  in 
Monroe,  where  two  young  men  were  indicted  for  having  mur- 
dered their  uncle.  One  can  have  no  idea  how  such  cases, 
where  the  life  of  a  fellow-man  is  trembling  in  the  balance, 
and  where  the  slightest  oversight  on  your  part  may  be  fatal, 
try  a  man's  nerves  and  disturb  his  mind.  I  have  sometimes 
thought,  "when  waiting  for  the  verdict,"  that  my  client 
could  hardly  have  felt  a  deeper  anxiety  than  I  felt  myself. 
While  judge  for  five  years,  though  I  presided  over  half  a 
dozen  murder  cases,  I  was  so  fortunate  as  never  to  have  to 
pronounce  a  sentence  of  death. 

This  year  I  also  attended  the  United  States  Court  at 
Vandalia  for  the  first  time,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Judge  John  McLean  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  an  eminent  jurist,  whose  dissenting  opinion  in  the 
Dred  Scott  case  in  1858  made  his  name  celebrated  all  over 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.  He  consulted  me  on 
some  claims  he  had  in  St.  Clair  County,  and  we  entered  into 
a  correspondence,  so  that  I  have  the  pleasure  of  having  his 
autographs. 

FAMILY   AND   OTHER    AFFAIRS 

The  death  of  Emma  Hilgard,  Edward  Hilgard's  young 
wife,  was  a  great  loss  to  all  of  us.  She  was  as  beautiful  as 
she  was  intelligent  and  kind-hearted.  Speaking  a  few  words 
at  her  grave,  I  was  almost  overcome  with  emotion. 

The  news  I  received  during  the  year  from  Germany  was 
somewhat  brighter.  My  friend  Von  Rochau,  on  the  day  of  his 
sentence  to  fifteen  years  in  the  penitentiary,  together  with  one 
of  his  jailors,  escaped  from  the  prison  in  Frankfort,  as  did 
six  other  of  my  friends  a  short  time  afterwards,  in  company 
with  another  jailor,  John  Geiger.  None  were  recaptured, 
having  been  concealed  by  citizens  of  Frankfort  for  weeks. 
Geiger  was  a  cigar-maker  by  trade  and  had  taken  the  position 
of  jailor  for  the  purpose  of  liberating  the  prisoners.  He  came 


434  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

to  the  United  States,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  year  to  Belleville. 
He  was  an  industrious,  well-informed  and  energetic  man; 
opened  a  cigar-manufactory,  made  money,  and  finally  moved 
to  Cassville  on  the  Mississippi  in  Wisconsin,  where  he  went 
into  the  commercial  business  and  became  quite  well  off,  He 
died,  I  believe,  some  twenty  years  ago.  Some  of  my  friends 
had  been  pardoned  by  their  governments;  the  imprisonment 
of  others,  like  Rueder  and  Detmar,  had  expired.  Only  Prus- 
sia still  kept  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  students  in  durance 
within  her  fortresses.  These  were  set  free  only  by  the  general 
amnesty  granted  by  Frederick  William  IV  on  his  accession  to 
the  throne  in  1840. 

The  most  happy  event  in  this  year  was  the  birth  of  my 
dear  Mary,  November  17,  1838,  who  received  her  name  of 
Mary  Elizabeth  from  her  two  grandmothers. 

Mr.  Snyder's  health  at  his  second  session  in  Congress 
had,  during  the  first  part  of  the  winter,  somewhat  improved 
He  was  able  to  attend  the  House  and  to  make  some  speeches. 
His  term  expired  in  March,  and  his  physicians  advised  him 
to  go  South.  But  he  was  anxious  to  return  to  his  family,  and 
came  home  via  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  New  Orleans.  He  was 
delighted  with  the  voyage  from  Baltimore  to  Charleston,  and 
in  a  letter  he  wrote  me  from  that  place,  March  10,  1839,  he 
says: 

''This  is  a  beautiful  city;  the  port  filled  with  vessels, 
wharves  lined  with  cotton  bales  and  sailors,  the  streets  filled 
with  fine  carriages,  well-dressed  males  and  females,  and  lots 
of  ragged  negroes.  The  climate  is  delightful,  the  peach  trees 
are  in  bloom,  the  fields  are  green,  —  everything  is  wearing 
the  aspect  of  May  in  Illinois.  Will  you  be  pleased  to  give  my 
respects  to  Mr.  Shields?  I  wish  he  was  here  to  enjoy  the 
fine  wine  and  the  irresistible  smiles  of  the  fine  ladies.  I  have 
met  here  with  unbounded  hospitality  and  attention.  I  trav- 
eled here  with  John  C.  Calhoun.  He  has  been  very  kind  to 
me,  and  has  introduced  me  to  many  of  the  wealthy  and  dis- 
tinguished families  of  the  Southern  metropolis." 


EAKLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  435 

Snyder  arrived  in  Belleville,  his  health  somewhat  im- 
proved. Not  long  afterwards,  I  received  the  melancholy  news 
of  the  death  of  my  sister  Augusta  after  a  long  and  painful  suf- 
fering. Indeed,  she  had  been  the  greater  part  of  her  life  a 
sufferer,  but  bore  this  unmerited  affliction  with  extraordinary 
fortitude.  Until  she  was  about  ten  years  of  age  she  was  the 
picture  of  health  and  beauty.  Her  golden  hair  came  down  to 
her  knees.  A  clearer  mind  was  never  united  to  a  better  heart. 
Her  death  was  a  terrible  blow  to  my  mother  and  sister,  and 
their  anxiety  to  join  me  received  a  new  impulse.  And  yet 
their  own  frail  health,  still  more  shattered  by  this  mournful 
event,  seemed  to  make  their  coming  almost  impossible. 

THE  FINANCIAL  SITUATION 

The  year  1839,  being,  as  it  is  generally  called,  an  off  year, 
with  no  general  elections,  was  a  very  quiet  one,  though  in 
Illinois  the  Legislature  had  at  last  put  a  stop  to  the  extrava- 
gant Internal  Improvement  System.  But  1840  was  a  stormy, 
and,  for  me,  a  particularly  eventful  year.  The  financial  crash 
had  set  in  in  good  earnest.  The  United  States  Bank  had  not 
been  rechartered.  It  turned  out  to  be,  on  its  winding  up, 
what  it  had  long  been  suspected  to  be,  a  political  machine. 
It  had,  by  generous  loans  to  leading  politicians,  attempted, 
often  with  success,  to  corrupt  members  of  Congress  and  of  the 
State  Legislatures;  and  it  had,  indirectly  at  least,  entered 
into  extravagant  speculations,  particularly  in  cotton,  doing 
its  banking  to  a  great  extent  on  the  public  revenue  deposited 
by  the  government.  Of  course,  it  was  now  compelled  to  try  to 
collect  its  outstanding  debts.  The  government  money  in  the 
meantime  having  been  deposited  with  a  great  many  State 
Banks,  the  latter  for  a  while  flourished  and  extended  their 
loans,  in  many  cases  very  imprudently.  There  being  plenty 
of  money,  —  nearly  all  the  banks  issuing  notes  as  money,  — 
speculation,  as  I  have  several  times  had  occasion  to  remark, 
rose  to  a  fever  heat.  A  reaction  naturally  took  place,  and  a 
great  many  of  the  banks  stopped  redeeming  their  notes  in 


436  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

gold  and  silver,  commenced  suing  their  debtors,  and  produced 
thus  a  general  state  of  insolvency.  But  this  was  not  enough. 
Many  states  North  and  South  had  gone  into  the  most  visionary 
schemes  of  internal  improvement.  Illinois,  for  one,  had  al- 
ready issued  bonds  or  legal  obligations  amounting,  up  to 
1840,  to  fifteen  millions  of  dollars.  In  order  to  get  votes  from 
members  from  every  part  of  the  State,  the  system  adopted 
in  1836,  instead  of  providing  for  one  or  two  most  necessary 
railroads  and  the  building  of  the  canal,  provided  for  seven 
railroads  and  the  improvement  not  only  of  the  main  river, 
the  Illinois,  but  also  of  the  Rock,  Kaskaskia,  Great  and  Little 
Wabash  Rivers,  while  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  do- 
nated to  counties  where  no  one  of  the  contemplated  roads 
ran  through.  But  soon,  the  State  credit  being  exhausted,  the 
whole  system  was  abandoned,  and  thousands  of  men  who  had 
been  employed  on  railroad  labor  were  discharged.  None  of 
the  roads  were  completed.  On  some,  embankments  had  been 
made  for  part  of  the  track;  on  others  culverts  and  bridges 
had  been  built.  Except  on  a  road  leading  from  Jacksonville 
to  the  Illinois  River  no  ties  or  rails  had  been  laid.  An  immense 
amount  of  iron  rails  had  been  purchased,  and  lay  idle  on 
boats  in  the  rivers  waiting  for  shipment.  Illinois,  of  course, 
could  not  begin  to  pay  the  interest  on  these  bonds  by  taxa- 
tion. She  quit  paying  any. 

Pennsylvania  and  other  States  not  only  did  not  pay 
their  interest,  but  for  some  reason  or  other,  principally  be- 
cause in  selling  the  bonds  the  State  officers  had  exceeded  their 
authority,  proclaimed  their  bonds  void,  and  repudiated  the 
payment  of  both  interest  and  principal,  though  they  had 
used  the  money.  To  the  honor  of  Illinois,  she  did  not  re- 
pudiate, though  great  efforts  were  made  by  demagogues  in 
and  out  of  the  Legislature  to  repudiate  a  great  part  of  the 
bonds;  and  she  finally  succeeded  in  paying  every  dollar  of 
both  principal  and  interest. 

The  times  unquestionably  were  very  hard,  and,  as  is  usu- 
ally the  case,  the  hardness  of  the  times  was  charged  upon  the 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  437 

party  in  power.  Van  Buren  had  proposed,  and  the  bulk  of 
the  Democratic  party  had  adopted,  the  plan  of  entirely  sev- 
ering the  government  from  the  banks,  and  of  having  the  gov- 
ernment take  care  of  its  money  through  its  own  treasury 
officers.  It  was  at  best  always  dangerous  to  place  the  revenue 
on  deposit  with  banks.  Should  a  war  ensue,  or  should  the 
government,  on  account  of  some  other  calamity,  want  its 
funds,  the  withdrawal  would  at  once  produce  a  panic  and  a 
crash.  Besides,  it  was  thought  that  banks  could  do  a  safe 
business  only  on  their  own  capital,  and  not  on  their  deposits, 
which  were  always  liable  to  be  called  for  even  on  the  threat- 
ened approach  of  some  formidable  difficulty.  To  make  the 
public  money  a  fund  whereon  to  issue  bank-notes  as  currency, 
would  unduly  increase  the  currency,  and  an  abundant  cur- 
rency was  as  dangerous  as  a  too  restricted  one. 

This  Sub-Treasury  plan,  as  it  was  called,  was  now  before 
Congress,  and  was  most  violently  opposed  by  the  money-power 
as  represented  in  the  legislative  halls  by  the  Whig  party, 
who  prophesied  the  ruin  of  the  country  if  it  would  pass.  The 
Democrats  had  also  pronounced  in  favor  of  a  low  tariff  and 
against  protection  for  protection's  sake,  and  had  denounced 
in  their  platform  Native  Americanism  and  declared  themselves 
in  favor  of  the  liberal  naturalization  laws  now  existing  and 
of  equal  rights  to  all  citizens,  native  as  well  as  naturalized. 
Protection  and  high  tariff  at  that  time  were  not  popular  in 
the  South  and  West,  as  their  population  was  principally  an 
agricultural  one.  It  was  thought,  therefore,  that  the  Democ- 
racy, with  these  sound  principles  upon  its  banner,  would  be 
certain  to  succeed  in  the  approaching  State  and  Presidential 
elections.  I  received  a  number  of  letters  in  the  early  part 
of  the  campaign,  amongst  others  some  from  Governor  Rey- 
nolds in  Washington,  all  expressing  confidence  in  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Van  Buren.  Governor  Reynolds  was  then  con- 
sidered one  of  the  shrewdest  politicians  in  Congress.  Judge 
Breese  was  also  confident  of  Democratic  success. 


438  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENER 

DOMESTIC  MATTERS 

Early  in  the  year,  I  received  news  that  made  it  almost 
certain  that  my  mother  and  Pauline  would  join  me.  Dr.  En- 
gelmann  had  gone  to  Germany  for  the  purpose  of  marrying 
his  cousin  Dora  Horstmann.  He  did  so  and  was  to  return 
with  his  bride  in  June  or  July.  He  was  very  willing  to  take 
charge  of  my  mother  and  sister  in  case  they  should  determine 
to  come  over.  They  most  cheerfully  accepted  the  offer.  No 
better  opportunity  could  have  offered  itself.  A  skilful  phy- 
sician, an  experienced  traveler,  an  intimate  friend  and  rela- 
tion of  mine,  and  a  lady-companion,  —  could  a  voyage  be 
made  under  more  favorable  auspices?  As  Charles,  though 
forty  years  old,  had  married  the  year  before  and  established 
his  own  household,  their  desire  to  join  me  had  become  very 
great.  Mother  had  already  made  an  arrangement  to  sell  her 
personal  property,  when  unfortunately  Pauline  was  taken 
dangerously  ill  and  all  idea  of  leaving  with  the  Engelmanns 
had  to  be  given  up,  to  my  deepest  regret. 

About  the  middle  of  May,  1840,  Sophie,  I,  and  little  Theo- 
dore took  a  pleasure  trip,  accompanied  by  Rosa  Hilgard.  In 
a  light  carriage  with  two  fine  horses  we  went,  by  what  is  now 
the  town  of  Centreville,  to  Waterloo  hi  Monroe  County, 
stopped  there  all  night  in  a  miost  rural  tavern,  and  next  morn- 
ing went  down  the  steep  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi  to  Prairie 
du  Rocher,  where  we  dined  with  a  Mr.  Henry,  a  very  intelli- 
gent and  urbane  Frenchman.  This  little  village  stands  at  the 
foot  of  an  almost  perpendicular  limestone  rock.  Indeed,  some 
of  the  cellars  and  stables  of  the  town  were  cut  into  the  rocks. 
Driving  down  the  road  through  the  American  Bottom,  tim- 
bered with  gigantic  trees,  we  reached  Kaskaskia  in  the  even- 
ing, putting  up  at  a  tavern.  This  strange  old  town  excited 
the  curiosity  of  my  fellow-travelers.  The  Morrisons  called 
upon  our  party  and  showed  us  round,  particularly  through 
the  then  so  flourishing  new  ladies'  seminary.  We  met  with 
much  civility.  From  Kaskaskia,  through  the  rocky,  wild,  well- 
timbered  bottom  of  the  Kaskaskia  River,  we  soon  reached  its 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  439 

mouth,  a  little  above  Chester,  then  quite  a  small  place,  perched 
upon  the  high  hills  which  here  bind  in  the  Mississippi  and 
close  the  long  flat  valley  on  the  Illinois  side,  commencing  at 
Alton,  and  called  the  American  Bottom.  Chester  was  even 
then  a  lively  place,  having  a  good  landing  and  a  good  shipping 
port  to  St.  Louis  as  well  as  to  New  Orleans.  Some  very  good 
residences  were  on  the  sides  and  the  tops  of  the  hills,  and  Mr. 
Nettleton,  whose  acquaintance  we  had  made  in  Belleville  and 
who  had  married  a  very  amiable  French  girl,  at  once  took  us 
up  to  his  dwelling  on  the  heights,  and  we  had  a  very  pleas- 
ant time.  Indeed,  the  scenery  from  there  up  and  down  the 
Mississippi  was  charming.  Leaving  Chester,  we  took  the  hill- 
route  to  a  place  called  Preston,  and  from  there  over  beautiful 
prairies  and  fine  stretches  of  forest  we  reached  at  night  Mr. 
Mitchell's  farm.  Mr.  Mitchell  had  given  up  business  in  Belle- 
ville and  had  bought  a  very  fine  farm  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Kaskaskia  River  near  the  then  recently  laid  out  town  of  New 
Athens,  where  we  were,  of  course,  most  hospitably  entertained. 
The  next  day  brought  us  home,  through  prairies  in  all  their 
spring  beauty  and  through  some  fine  timber,  to  Belleville, 
which  was  then  on  all  sides  surrounded  by  a  forest  of  splendid 
trees. 

I  do  not  know  whether  it  was  the  genial  air  of  spring, 
the  exhilarating  motion  of  our  carriage,  the  beautiful  scenery 
at  some  places,  (it  being  the  first  excursion  of  Sophie  and 
Rosa  from  home  since  their  arrival  in  Illinois,)  or  the  true 
friendliness  of  our  reception  everywhere,  or  the  lively  prattle 
and  vivacity  of  our  little  boy,  but  it  is  literally  true  that  this 
brief  journey  fixed  itself  indelibly  in  our  minds,  and  that  for 
many  years  afterwards  we  spoke  of  it  as  a  sunny  spot  in  our 
lives.  Rosa,  whose  eighteenth  birthday  we  celebrated  at  Kas- 
kaskia, has  again  and  again  called  back  those  few  days  as 
among  the  most  cheerful  in  her  life. 

Molly  Hilgard  had  a  year  before  married  Sharon  Tyn- 
dale,  who  had  been  a  clerk  in  James  Mitchell's  store  in  Belle- 
ville; Mitchell's  son  Edward  having  married  Sharon's  sister, 


440  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENER 

and  living  in  Philadelphia.  Emma  having  died,  Rosa  was  the 
oldest  of  the  sisters  now  at  home.  I  have  already  remarked 
what  Belleville  gained  by  the  accession  of  the  Hilgard  family. 
Rosa  and  Clara,  but  Rosa  particularly,  had  become  very  much 
attached  to  Sophie.  They  called  very  frequently  at  our  house, 
and  Rosa  soon  seemed  to  feel  at  home  with  us.  The  difference 
of  age  was  not  great  enough  for  Sophie  to  act  the  part  of  a 
mother.  Their  relation  was  more  that  of  an  elder  and  a 
younger  sister,  and  remained  so  through  all  time  until  death 
parted  them.  Rosa  was  indeed  "Eine  Rose  hold  und  rein." 
Her  intellect,  perhaps  I  may  say  her  genius,  dwelt  in  a  most 
lovely  form.  Her  unvaried  friendship  and  her  warm  interest 
in  myself  and  family  were  a  source  of  happiness  to  me 
throughout  life. 

TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLER  TOO 

On  my  return  from  this  excursion  stern  reality  at  once 
took  hold  of  me.  The  campaign  commenced  at  once  in  earn- 
est. At  the  session  of  the  court,  the  Whigs  not  relying  on 
home  talent,  had  sent  for  some  of  the  best  speakers  in  the 
United  States  to  address  the  people.  Alexander  P.  Field, 
then  Secretary  of  State,  one  of  the  best  and  most  sarcastic  of 
stump-speakers,  had  come  from  Springfield.  James  L.  D. 
Morrison,  who  had  been  for  some  time  a  midshipman  in  the 
navy,  but  who  had  resigned  and  studied  law  in  Kaskaskia,  a 
most  flowery  and  fluent  orator,  and  Joseph  Gillespie,  a  good 
lawyer  and  practiced  stump-speaker  from  Madison  County, 
made  their  appearance.  Field  opened  the  ball  in  the  even- 
ing after  the  court  was  over  in  a  most  inflammatory  speech, 
talking  for  more  than  two  hours  to  a  big  crowd.  Trumbull 
answered  him  next  day  in  a  speech  of  equal  length  with  un- 
sparing irony  and  bitterness,  and  far  more  logical  and  argu- 
mentative. The  next  night  Don  Morrison  let  loose  in  his 
maledictory  eloquence  upon  Democracy.  His  speech  was  a 
fine  one,  as  far  as  words  and  phrases  were  concerned,  the- 
atrically delivered,  but  void  of  argument.  I  had  to  answer 
him.  Gillespie  wound  up  the  speaking  on  the  fifth  night.  Of 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  441 

course  both  parties  claimed  a  great  victory  in  this  oratorical 
tournament. 

From  that  time  on  the  political  excitement,  not  only  in 
Illinois,  but  all  over  the  United  States,  reached  a  fever-heat 
heretofore  unknown.  The  Whigs  had  nominated  at  Harris- 
burg,  William  Henry  Harrison  of  Ohio  and  John  Tyler  of 
Virginia,  but  had  adopted,  very  shrewdly  as  they  thought, 
no  platform.  Neither  of  the  Whig  candidates  responded  to 
their  nomination  and  so  were  entirely  uncommitted.  Never- 
theless, they  received  the  support  of  the  whole  Whig  party 
North  and  South  and  also  of  the  Democrats  of  Pennsylvania 
and  of  other  manufacturing  states,  as  the  candidates  were 
supposed  to  favor  a  protective  tariff.  For  the  first  time,  large 
sums  of  money  were  furnished  by  the  banks  and  manufactur- 
ers, and  demonstrations  were  gotten  up  on  the  most  gigantic 
scale. 

Harrison  was  an  old  man,  some  sixty-seven  years  of  age ; 
had  once  been  Governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  and  a 
delegate  to  Congress;  had  settled  on  a  farm  at  North  Bend, 
Ohio;  had  been  a  member  of  Congress  and  a  Senator  from 
Ohio;  but  had  for  the  last  twelve  years  retired  from  politics 
and  now  occupied  the  office  of  county  clerk  at  Cincinnati. 
He  had  been  a  candidate  against  Van  Buren  in  1836,  but  was 
badly  beaten.  At  that  time  his  military  exploits  as  a  general 
in  a  fight  with  the  Indians  at  Tippecanoe  were  not  much  dwelt 
on,  since  he  had,  on  that  occasion,  though  holding  his  fort 
against  a  night-surprise,  shown  rather  bad  generalship.  But 
this  time  the  skirmish  was  exhumed  and  represented  as  a 
splendid  battle,  and  the  motto  of  the  Whigs  was  blazoned 
abroad  as  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too."  That  as  a  pioneer 
settler  he  had  at  first  lived  in  a  log  house,  as  had  almost  every- 
body else  who  went  to  farming  in  the  early  part  of  this  cen- 
tury, was  also  made  much  of.  Log  cabins  figured  in  all  the 
innumerable  processions  got  up  by  the  Whigs.  It  was  also 
reported  that  the  poor  man  in  his  log  cabin  had  nothing  to 
drink  but  hard  cider,  and  accordingly  cider-barrels  were  con- 


MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

spicuous  in  the  parades.  It  is  from  this  last  incident  that 
the  whole  campaign  received  the  now  historic  name  of  the 
"Hard  Cider  Campaign."  No  letters  addressed  to  the  candi- 
dates, asking  for  their  opinion  on  political  questions,  were 
answered;  and  when  finally  the  National  Whig  Committee 
found  that  their  silence  was  bound  to  hurt  them,  they  per- 
suaded General  Harrison  to  make  a  few  speeches,  which  only 
made  darkness  more  visible.  On  one  point  only  was  he  pos- 
itive, namely,  that  Congress  had  no  right  to  abolish  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  that  the  Abolitionists  must 
be  put  down.  To  show  how  excited  the  people  got  towards 
the  latter  part  of  the  campaign,  it  was  officially  stated  that  at 
Dayton,  Ohio,  where  Harrison  made  a  brief  speech,  more  than 
eighty  thousand  people  were  present,  the  ground  upon  which 
the  crowd  stood  having  been  measured  by  three  engineers. 

At  a  mass  meeting  in  Springfield  it  was  estimated  that 
twenty  thousand  people  were  present,  —  a  great  number  in- 
deed, when  it  is  considered  that  there  were  then  no  railroads, 
and  no  half  fares,  and  that  everybody  had  to  come,  hundreds 
of  miles,  on  horseback  or  in  wagons,  and  that  Springfield  had 
then  hardly  more  than  three  or  four  thousand  people  in  it. 
From  Chicago  came,  on  a  large  platform  wagon,  an  imita- 
tion of  a  good-sized,  full-rigged  schooner,  drawn  by  several 
spans  of  extra  fine  horses,  and  a  band  of  music.  One  proces- 
sion from  southern  Illinois  passed  through  Belleville,  and 
was  perhaps  five  hundred  strong.  Some  delegates  came  from 
Cairo,  others  from  Union,  Jackson,  Randolph  and  Monroe 
Counties.  Many  of  them  were  dressed  in  suits  of  coarse  jeans, 
a  stuff  called  "hard  times."  Most  of  them  rode  in  farm- 
wagons,  the  rest  on  horseback.  On  one  platform-truck,  they 
had  a  large  log  cabin,  with  the  latchstring  out,  to  show  Har- 
rison's hospitality;  on  another  truck  they  had  a  large  canoe, 
the  occupants  of  which,  when  they  reached  a  town,  paddled 
lustily  in  the  open  air.  It  was  hot,  and  they  rode  in  a  cloud 
of  dust.  On  their  way  they  camped  out  like  soldiers  on  the 
march.  An  immense  number  of  cider-barrels  were  displayed ; 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  443 

they  were  of  course  empty,  but  the  pockets  of  most  of  the  pro- 
cessionists were  full  of  whiskey  flasks,  not  empty.  It  was  a 
most  amusing  scene.  As  Belleville  was  largely  Democratic, 
the  caravan  was  very  coolly  received,  and  all  the  hurrahing 
and  cheering  came  from  the  passing  crowd  itself.  And  who 
formed  it?  Not  many  farmers,  but  bank-presidents  and  di- 
rectors, broken-down  merchants,  disappointed  politicians,  mer- 
chant-clerks, county  judges  and  county  officers,  high  and  low, 
howling  "hard  times,"  and  spending  money  lavishly  in  get- 
ting up  shows  of  all  sorts  and  traveling  hundreds  of  miles. 
The  men  from  the  most  southern  counties  had  to  travel  more 
than  two  hundred  miles  to  Springfield,  and  from  the  most 
northern  counties  an  equal  distance. 

Belleville  being  considered  a  Democratic  stronghold,  a 
great  effort  was  made  by  the  Whig  party  to  revolutionize  it. 
A  mass  meeting  had  been  announced,  and  the  St.  Louis  and 
Illinois  Whig  papers  gave  it  in  anticipation  great  puffs.  They 
had  engaged,  indeed,  a  great  many  speakers  of  reputation, 
such  as  Mr.  Lincoln  from  Springfield,  Wilson  Primm,  Colonel 
Bogy,  Thornton  Grimsly,  of  St.  Louis,  John  Hogan,  the  de- 
feated candidate  for  Congress  from  Alton,  and  Don  Morrison 
from  Kaskaskia.  The  meeting,  however,  was  rather  small; 
no  doubt  this  disappointment  had  its  effect  upon  Mr.  Lincoln, 
who  seemed  rather  depressed  and  was  less  happy  in  his  re- 
marks than  usual.  He  sought  to  make  much  of  the  point  that 
he  had  seen  in  Belleville  that  morning  a  fine  horse  sold  by 
a  constable  for  the  price  of  twenty-seven  dollars,  all  due  to 
the  hard  times  produced  by  the  Democrats.  He  was  some- 
what nonplussed  by  the  constable,  who  was  in  the  crowd,  cry- 
ing out  that  the  horse  had  but  one  eye.  I  do  not  recollect 
how  Lincoln  got  out  of  this  scrape.  But  even  the  Whigs  were 
somewhat  disappointed.  In  point  of  melody  of  voice  and 
graceful  delivery,  though  not  in  argument,  most  all  the  other 
speakers  surpassed  him.  It  was  the  first  time  I  saw  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. It  must  be  said  that  his  appearance  was  not  very  pre- 
possessing. His  exceedingly  tall  and  very  angular  form  made 


444  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

his  movements  rather  awkward.  Nor  were  his  features,  when 
he  was  not  animated,  pleasant,  owing  principally  to  his  high 
cheek-bones.  His  complexion  had  no  roseate  hue  of  health, 
but  was  then  rather  bilious,  and,  when  not  speaking,  his  face 
seemed  to  be  overshadowed  by  melancholy  thoughts.  I  ob- 
served him  closely,  thought  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  intellect  in 
him,  while  his  looks  were  genial  and  kind.  I  did  not  believe, 
however,  that  he  had  much  reserve  will-power.  No  one  in  the 
crowd  would  have  dreamed  that  he  was  one  day  to  be  their 
President,  and  finally  lead  his  people  through  the  greatest 
crisis  it  had  seen  since  the  Revolutionary  War. 

On  our  side  no  efforts  were  spared.  We  had  a  very  strong 
county  ticket.  Mr.  Snyder  for  State  Senator,  Lyman  Trumbull 
for  one  of  the  Representatives,  and  S.  B.  Chandler,  for  sheriff. 
Shields,  Trumbull  and  I  took  the  stump.  Trumbull  and  I 
made  speeches  in  every  precinct,  and  organized  clubs  in  every 
little  town.  I  started  a  German  political  debating  club  in 
Belleville,  where  every  week  the  political  questions  of  the  day 
were  discussed.  It  lasted,  however,  only  a  month  or  so,  as 
there  were  few  intelligent  Whigs  in  town  and  in  debate  they 
were  no  match  for  the  German  speakers,  such  as  the  brothers 
Tittmann,  August  Hassel  and  others.  As  the  Whigs  refused 
to  attend  any  more,  the  society  died  for  want  of  opposition. 
Besides  writing  numerous  articles  for  the  Belleville  Demo- 
cratic papers,  I  began  publishing  a  German  weekly  campaign 
paper  for  the  Presidential  election  from  May  to  November. 
It  was  called  the  "Messenger  of  Liberty  (Freiheitsbote)  for 
Illinois,"  printed  in  St.  Louis  by  Weber,  in  large  folio  and 
in  large  new  type.  In  two  weeks  it  had  more  than  two  hun- 
dred subscribers,  and  as  the  Democrats  of  Missouri  got  hold 
of  it  too,  its  title  was  changed  to  the  "Messenger  of  Liberty  for 
Illinois  and  Missouri, ' '  and  its  circulation  became  quite  large. 
With  the  exception  of  some  two  or  three  articles  written  by 
Hassel,  and  an  equally  small  number  of  excellent  contribu- 
tions by  William  Palm  of  St.  Louis,  I  wrote  all  the  editorials. 
Where  there  were  large  settlements  of  Germans  in  the  neigh- 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  445 

boring  counties  I  was  requested  to  speak,  but  I  only  found 
time  —  my  law  business  requiring  also  very  much  attention 
—  to  meet  Judge  Breese  at  Aviston  in  Clinton  County,  where 
we  both  addressed  a  large  crowd  of  Germans  from  the  Han- 
over settlement,  and  W.  H.  Bissell,  who  was  a  candidate  for 
the  Legislature  in  Monroe  County,  when  we  addressed  a 
large  assemblage  in  Prairie  du  Long. 

With  William  H.  Bissell,  who  was  then  a  practicing  phy- 
sician, I  had  before  that  time  become  slightly  acquainted,  as  at 
court  time  he  used  to  come  up  to  Waterloo  and  associate  with 
the  lawyers,  who  all  found  him  a  most  intelligent,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  a  modest  and  amiable  man.  At  the  meeting,  I 
discovered  in  him  a  speaker  of  great  force  of  argument  and 
of  an  extraordinary  elegance  of  language.  He  was  of  medium 
size  and  rather  delicately  built,  his  complexion  very  clear  and 
rather  pale.  His  high  massive  forehead  showed  great  intel- 
lect, and  his  features,  kindness,  —  though  he  commanded, 
when  occasion  required  it,  great  wit  and  sarcasm.  However,  at 
times  a  deep  cloud  of  melancholy  overclouded  his  face.  After 
some  practice,  he  became,  as  all  acknowledged,  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  and  effective  speakers  in  the  State.  As  he  and  I 
were  soon  thrown  closely  together,  I  will  have  to  recur  to  him 
frequently. 

As  at  all  these  various  meetings  the  audience  was  a  mixed 
one,  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  make  almost  everywhere  two  speeches 
in  different  languages.  I  may  here  remark  that  the  issues 
of  the  day  in  the  press,  as  well  as  in  Congress  and  in  public 
meetings,  were  very  ably  handled.  Taking  the  tariff  question, 
for  instance,  about  which  in  the  last  years  innumerable 
speeches  have  been  made  and  essays  written,  I  must  say  that 
as  a  general  rule  they  are  a  mere  re-hash  of  what  was  said 
during  Jackson's  and  Van  Buren's  administrations.  The 
protective  tariff  then  had  such  champions  as  Clay  and  Web- 
ster, Edward  Everett  of  Massachusetts  and  Ingersoll  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  many  other  most  distinguished  statesmen;  the 
tariff  for  revenue  only  was  advocated  by  such  men  as  Cal- 


446  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

houn  and  Benton,  Silas  Wright  and  Cambreleng,  of  New  York, 
and  last,  but  not  least,  by  one  of  the  most  able  financiers  since 
Hamilton  and  Robert  Morris,  by  Robert  J.  Walker  of  Missis- 
sippi. The  "Whig-National  Intelligencer"  on  one  side,  and 
Francis  P.  Blair's  "Globe"  on  the  other,  in  Washington,  dis- 
cussed the  question  with  the  greatest  ability.  I  have  heard 
in  1840  in  St.  Clair  County  as  good,  if  not  better,  speeches  on 
the  bank  and  tariff  questions  as  in  1884  and  1886. 

At  the  August  State  election  the  Democrats  in  Illinois 
gained  a  great  victory.  The  Legislature  was  carried  by  a  large 
majority.  In  St.  Clair  County  the  whole  ticket  was  elected 
by  800  majority,  double  the  majority  of  former  years.  Sny- 
der  went  to  the  Senate,  Trumbull  to  the  Lower  House.  All 
the  adjoining  counties  where  there  were  large  German  settle- 
ments, went  Democratic,  some  for  the  first  time.  At  the  No- 
vember election,  Illinois  remained  true  to  the  Democracy  in 
voting  for  Van  Buren,  but  nearly  all  the  other  States  went  for 
Harrison.  Hard  times  and  hard  money  had  done  the  busi- 
ness. Van  Buren  obtained  only  six  States,  Illinois,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Virginia,  Alabama,  Mississippi  and  Arkansas. 

Harrison,  having  been  run  down  by  office-seekers,  died 
a  month  after  his  inauguration,  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  and 
Vice-President  Tyler  became  his  successor.  The  party  now 
reaped  the  fruits  of  their  finely  spun  scheme  in  not  having 
adopted  a  platform  of  principles  and  in  not  having  committed 
their  candidates  to  a  policy.  This  had  helped  in  the  election, 
because  in  New  England  they  were  represented  as  being  in 
favor  of  a  national  bank  and  protection,  while  in  the  South 
and  West  they  were  made  to  appear  as  friends  of  only  a  mod- 
erate tariff  and  as  opposed  to  a  national  bank.  When  the 
Whig  majority  in  Congress  led  by  Henry  Clay,  introduced 
a  new  national  bank  bill  and  passed  it,  Tyler  vetoed  it.  The 
party  was  split  up.  Webster,  having  been  made  Secretary  of 
State  by  Harrison,  clung  to  Tyler.  The  latter  soon  began  to 
groom  himself  for  the  Presidential  candidacy  at  the  next  elec- 
tion in  1844,  hoping  to  be  supported  by  the  Democrats  and 
a  wing  of  the  Whig  party;  called  some  Democrats  into  his 


EARLY  ILLINOIS  POLITICS  447 

cabinet,  and  removed  the  Clay  Whigs  from  office;  with  the 
upshot  that  no  national  bank  bill  was  passed,  that  in  1844 
Polk  of  Tennessee  beat  Henry  Clay,  and  that  the  Democracy 
established  a  sub-treasury,  enacted  a  reasonable  tariff  law, 
and  remained  in  power,  save  for  a  short  interval  of  years, 
until  1861. 

I  have  spoken  of  this  campaign  somewhat  in  detail,  be- 
cause it  inaugurated  the  noisy  and  demonstrative  methods 
which  have  since  more  or  less  characterized  Presidential  elec- 
tions, and  also  because  it  was  the  first  time  that  large  and  ex- 
travagant sums  of  money  were  raised  and  applied  to  carry 
elections.  Initiated  by  the  Whig  party,  the  Democratic  party, 
in  self-defense,  as  it  claimed,  adopted  a  similar  policy,  though, 
as  far  as  the  use  of  money  was  concerned,  it  fell  far  behind 
its  antagonist,  since  it  never  had  the  moneyed  and  privileged 
classes  at  its  back.  If  it  had  had  the  means  which  its  op- 
ponents had,  it  probably  would  have  been  as  lavish  in  its  elec- 
tion methods  as  they,  and  would  have  used  the  same  unjusti- 
fiable methods. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  we  had  a  severe  trial  in  our  family. 
On  the  17th  of  August,  a  fine  little  boy  was  born  to  us,  whom 
we  named  Thomas  Jefferson.  Sophie  felt  so  well  after  a  week 
or  so,  that  while  I  was  absent  at  the  Kaskaskia  court,  she 
ventured  out,  and  made  a  call  at  a  house  some  distance  from 
ours.  She  was  soon  after  taken  down  with  a  most  painful 
and  serious  disease,  lasting  some  three  weeks,  during  which 
time  our  little  Jefferson,  in  spite  of  every  effort,  could  not 
have  the  attention  and  nursing  he  ought  to  have  had.  Yet  he 
apparently  grew  to  be  a  very  beautiful  child.  Theodore  and 
Mary  had  had  the  whooping  cough,  while  Sophie  was  sick. 
Jefferson,  then  about  six  weeks  old,  caught  it,  and  rather  un- 
expectedly died  with  it  on  the  sixth  of  October.  A  few  days 
afterwards  Theodore  was  taken  down  with  typhoid  pneu- 
monia, and  for  some  days  was  almost  given  up.  But  our 
friend  Trapp,  who  had  finally  settled  in  Belleville  as  a  phy- 
sician, brought  him  through.  His  skill  and  careful  attention 
during  these  cases  of  sickness  were  deserving  of  all  praise. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
The  Years  1841-1842 

About  the  first  of  December,  1840,  I  was  surprised  by  a 
letter  from  Senator  Snyder  from  Springfield,  to  which  place 
he  had  gone  to  attend  the  Legislature  and  also  the  electoral 
college,  (he  having  been  elected  one  of  the  five  electors  at  the 
Presidential  election  in  November,)  asking  me  to  come  up  at 
once,  and  saying  that  he  thought  there  was  a  chance  of  my 
being  appointed  to  carry  the  vote  of  Illinois  to  Washington, 
as  provided  by  the  Presidential  election  law.  Now  I  had 
never  heard  of  such  an  office,  but  on  examining  the  law  I 
found  out  that  it  was  rather  a  remunerative  business,  and 
also  considered  an  honorable  one,  as  in  fact  the  electoral  col- 
leges usually  appointed  one  of  their  own  members  to  carry  the 
vote.  I  mounted  my  horse,  and  Shields  went  along.  At  Ed- 
wardsville  my  horse,  having  hurt  its  foot  in  breaking  through 
a  frozen  creek,  had  to  be  abandoned,  and  I  got  myself  a  very 
fine  traveler,  a  Canadian  pony.  Shields  had  a  blooded  mare. 
We  reached  Springfield  —  one  hundred  and  fifteen  miles  — 
in  two  days  and  a  quarter,  just  a  few  hours  before  the  board 
of  electors  met  —  the  first  Wednesday  in  December.  J.  A. 
McClernand,  one  of  the  electors,  a  friend  of  mine,  and  Mr. 
Snyder  were  for  me.  Isaac  P.  Walker,  the  gentleman  who 
was  examined  with  me  for  a  license  at  Vandalia,  in  1835,  was 
for  himself.  Judge  Ralston  of  Quincy  was  uncommitted.  A 
number  of  ballots  took  place,  I  getting  two  votes,  Walker  two, 
his  own  and  Ralston 's,  and  Eldridge,  also  an  elector,  one  — 
his  own,  it  was  supposed,  the  voting  being  by  ballot.  Finally 
a  recess  was  taken  till  the  afternoon. 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  449 

In  the  meantime,  Shields  introduced  me  to  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  then  Secretary  of  State,  and  already  considered  as 
one  of  the  main  pillars  of  the  Illinois  Democracy.  I  saw  him 
for  the  first  time  then.  He  was  of  very  small  size,  but  broad- 
shouldered  and  muscular.  When  sitting,  like  Louis  Napoleon, 
he  appeared  of  medium  height,  but  his  legs  were  very  short. 
He  had  a  most  massive  and  intellectual  head,  crowned  with 
thick  black  hair,  and  his  eyes  were  light  blue  or  gray  and 
quite  bright.  His  mouth  and  chin  showed  great  firmness.  He 
was  pleasant  in  conversation,  and  toward  those  he  liked  and 
wanted  to  persuade  he  was  full  of  blandishment.  He  would 
sit  on  their  laps,  and  clap  them  on  their  backs.  The  word 
was  not  much  used  then,  but  he  had  a  "magnetism"  about 
him  almost  irresistible.  He  received  me  very  cordially,  and 
at  once  promised  me  his  support.  Probably  he  did  get  Judge 
Ralston  in  my  favor,  for  after  a  ballot  or  two  I  got  three 
votes  and  was  appointed.  I  invited  the  electoral  college, 
Douglas,  Shields,  General  Ewing  and  some  other  friends  to 
an  oyster  supper  and  champagne,  and  we  had  a  jolly  time. 
The  preparation  of  the  necessary  papers  took  up  the  fore- 
noon of  the  next  day,  and  I  did  not  get  started  until  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  had  not  much  time  to  lose.  The 
vote  had  to  be  delivered  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  January 
in  Washington.  It  had  turned  quite  cold  and  the  rivers  were 
expected  to  close  soon.  A  trip  of  a  thousand  miles  in  winter 
by  stage  was  a  dreadful  prospect.  Besides,  I  had  to  have  a 
few  days  at  home  to  get  ready.  So  I  made  haste. 

My  fine  pony  in  a  swift  canter  took  me  the  same  evening 
to  Virden,  twenty-five  miles  from  Springfield.  Starting  early 
next  morning,  I  reached,  the  next  night  at  about  ten  o'clock, 
Locust  Grove,  seven  miles  north  of  Edwardsville,  having 
traveled  that  day  about  fifty-eight  miles,  and  arrived  in  Belle- 
ville the  day  following  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
having  made  thirty-two  miles.  It  is  true  I  took  my  horse 
again  at  Edwardsville,  but  my  pony  would  have  taken  me 
to  Belleville  just  as  quickly;  I  never  rode  a  better  traveling 


450  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

horse  in  all  my  life,  and  did  not  feel  at  all  tired  when  I  got 
home. 

SENT  AS  AN  ELECTORAL  MESSENGER  TO  WASHINGTON 

In  a  couple  of  days  I  had  made  all  my  arrangements. 
The  rivers  being  still  open,  I  took  a  boat  to  Wheeling  on  the 
Ohio,  from  where  a  number  of  stage-lines  ran  over  the  moun- 
tains to  Baltimore  on  the  fine  macadamized  National  Road. 
The  Mississippi  was  clear  of  ice;  but  when  we  came  into  the 
Ohio,  the  ice  was  running  pretty  thick,  and  we  proceeded  but 
slowly;  and  above  Portsmouth  the  captain  seemed  doubtful 
whether  he  could  run  any  further ;  but  the  passengers  insisted, 
and  after  a  trip  of  about  nine  days  from  St.  Louis  we  reached 
Wheeling.  It  was  a  tedious  time.  With  the  exception  of 
another  messenger  from  Missouri,  Falkland  Martin,  I  found 
no  agreeable  company. 

On  board  was  Lieutenant  Philip  Kearney,  who  became 
the  distinguished  General  Kearney  of  the  Civil  War,  and 
fell  at  Chantilly,  the  day  after  the  second  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  —  September  2,  1862.  He  was  then  a  tall,  slender 
youth,  of  dark  complexion  and  of  quite  aristocratic  appear- 
ance. He  remained  nearly  all  the  time  in  his  state-room, 
spoke  to  no  one,  and  had  his  own  black  servant  wait  on  him 
at  meals.  In  1845  I  met  him  again  at  Shelbyville,  Illinois, 
where  he  was  on  recruiting  service.  He  stopped  at  the  same 
hotel  I  did,  and  as  I  was  there  as  judge,  he  was  less  reticent. 
Soon  afterwards,  at  the  head  of  his  company  of  dragoons,  he 
made  himself  quite  a  reputation  in  leading  a  charge  at  the 
gates  of  Mexico,  where  he  lost  his  bridle-arm.  When  I  saw 
him  on  board  of  the  boat,  he  had  just  returned  from  France, 
where  he  had  been  to  study  the  French  cavalry  service,  and 
during  the  time  he  spent  there,  he  volunteered  in  the  Chas- 
seurs d'Afrique  and  made  a  campaign  in  Algiers.  In  1851, 
having  returned  to  the  United  States,  he  resigned,  went  to 
Europe  again,  was  on  the  French  staff  in  the  war  against 
Austria,  and  was  at  the  battles  of  Magenta  and  Solferino. 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  451 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  he  returned  to  the  United 
States,  served  as  a  brigadier-general  in  the  Peninsular  cam- 
paign, in  Virginia,  and  was  made  major-general  for  dis- 
tinguished service,  a  few  weeks  before  he  was  killed. 

All  the  stages  were  full.  There  were  nine  of  us  in  one. 
It  had  turned  very  cold,  and  we  were  wrapped  in  blankets  and 
buffalo  skins.  At  night  when  we  could  not  open  the  windows 
on  account  of  the  cold,  the  air  in  the  stage  was  stifling.  In 
the  day-time,  when  we  were  slowly  climbing  up  the  steep 
mountain-sides  of  the  Alleghenies,  we  often  got  out  to  exer- 
cise and  stretch  our  limbs.  We  were  out  two  days  and  two 
nights  before  we  reached  Frederick,  Maryland.  Arriving 
there  I  left  the  stage,  had  a  good  sleep,  took  the  railroad  by 
way  of  the  Relay  House  to  Washington,  and  stopped  at 
Brown's  Hotel  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  the  headquarters  of 
the  Southern  Democrats  at  that  period. 

IN   THE   CAPITAL 

At  that  time  no  member  of  Congress  owned  a  house  at 
Washington  or  had  one  leased.  All  stayed  either  at  the  hotels 
or  at  private  boarding-houses.  Washington  was  at  that  time 
not  a  large  place,  having  a  population  of  little  more  than 
thirty  thousand  people.  The  Capitol  was  not  a  third  as  large 
as  it  is  now,  with  its  large  and  beautiful  wings.  The  Post- 
office  was  a  fine  marble  building;  the  splendid  new  Patent 
Office  was  just  commenced.  Outside  of  these  public  build- 
ings, the  White  House,  some  large  hotels,  and  some  fine 
stores  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  the  houses  were  generally 
only  two-story  buildings,  and  many  even  were  frame  struc- 
tures. Still,  as  it  was,  it  was  highly  interesting  to  me. 

The  sealed-up  vote  I  had  to  deliver  to  the  Vice-President, 
Richard  M.  Johnson,  to  whom  Governor  Reynolds  introduced 
me  the  day  after  my  arrival.  General  Johnson  was  an  old, 
but  still  very  good-looking,  Kentuckian,  with  a  kindly  jovial 
face.  His  fresh  round  head  was  still  covered  with  curly  sil- 
very hair.  He  was  a  real  Western  man,  received  me  quite 


452  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

affably,  and  we  talked  like  old  acquaintances  about  the  cam- 
paign, especially  the  laughable  parts  of  it.  He  very  truly 
predicted  that  the  victorious  party  was  bound  to  break  up  in  a 
short  time. 

I  had  arrived  some  two  days  before  Christmas.  There 
were  no  holidays  then,  except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  day. 
Congress  was  in  session.  Governor  Reynolds  took  me  to  the 
House,  where,  under  a  liberal  construction  of  the  rules,  I  had 
the  privilege  of  the  floor  as  a  deputy  from  a  sovereign  State. 
I  was  introduced  to  a  great  many  notable  men ;  among  others, 
to  John  Quincy  Adams,  General  Polk,  and  Colonel  Benton.  I 
listened  to  a  highly  interesting  debate  in  the  Senate  on  a 
private  pension  bill  by  Webster,  who  made  a  short  but  very 
fine  and  effective  speech.  It  was  proposed  to  give  a  pension 
to  a  Massachusetts  widow  of  a  minute-man  of  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  who,  if  he  had  lived,  Webster  himself  admitted 
would  not  have  been  entitled  to  a  pension.  He  spoke,  con- 
trary to  his  custom,  somewhat  on  the  spread-eagle  order. 
Calhoun,  in  an  earnest,  logical  speech,  opposed  the  bill  as 
making  a  bad  precedent.  Clay  took  fire,  and,  in  a  most 
impressive  speech,  supported  Webster.  Clay's  harangue 
brought  Benton  to  his  feet,  who  replied  with  great  spirit, 
showing  a  very  profound  knowledge  of  the  pension  laws  and 
of  the  history  of  similar  bills  that  had  all  been  deservedly 
defeated.  All  this  happened  within  a  short  hour,  and  I  had 
really  reason  to  congratulate  myself;  for  it  did  not  often 
happen  that  one  was  privileged  to  hear  these  four  great  men 
all  in  one  day  and  within  so  short  a  time. 

I  may  remark  here  that  I  saw  at  the  theatre  Richard  the 
Third  by  Junius  Booth,  father  of  Edwin  Booth  and  John 
Wilkes  Booth,  Lincoln's  assassin.  The  elder  Booth  was  then 
the  most  popular  tragic  actor  in  the  United  States.  This  was 
the  first  time  that  I  had  seen  a  drama  acted  in  this  country. 
According  to  my  German  ideas,  Booth,  as  well  as  the  other 
actors,  who,  by  the  way,  were  generally  very  poor  performers, 
overdrew  the  characters;  and  the  overacting  of  such  plays  as 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  453 

Richard  the  Third,  King  Lear,  and  some  others  of  Shakespeare 
I  could  not  bear.     I  did  not  at  all  enjoy  the  performance. 

In  a  letter  to  Sophie  from  Washington,  —  December  23, 
1840,  —  after  giving  her  a  brief  description  of  my  journey,  I 
wrote  about  my  arrival  at  Washington  and  my  reception  there 
on  the  first  days: 

' '  In  order  to  flatter  thy  ambition,  I  must  tell  thee  that  as 
a  Deputy  of  the  State  of  Illinois  I  had  not  to  sit  in  the  gal- 
leries of  the  two  Houses,  but  took  a  seat  on  the  floor,  a  priv- 
ilege which  is  reserved  only  to  members,  Governors  of  States, 
and  the  chiefs  of  the  executive  departments.  It  is  a  trifle, 
and  it  is  only  to  thee  I  tell  it,  and  thou  must  not  tell  other 
people  about  it.  As  soon  as  my  dress-coat  is  done,  I  will  visit 
Van  Buren,  although  there  is  no  necessity  of  appearing  in  a 
dress-coat.  My  visit  to  Vice-President  Johnson  and  to  others 
I  made  in  morning-dress.  I  got  along  very  well,  and  in  the 
presence  of  such  distinguished  men,  I  felt  quite  unconcerned, 
so  much  so,  that  I  am  a  surprise  to  myself.  I  feel  almost  at 
home  amongst  them.  Have  I  not  a  high  opinion  of  myself? 
My  best  greetings  to  all  our  folks,  to  the  reading  club  and  to 
my  favorite  —  thou  knowest  whom  I  mean.  God  preserve  my 
dear  trifolium — Sophie,  Theodore  and  Marie." 

I  had  paid  two  visits  to  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  had  quite 
interesting  conversations  with  him.  He  had  taken  his  defeat 
very  coolly,  and  was  certain  that  all  the  important  measures 
of  his  adminstration  would  be  finally  adopted. 

The  President  had  invited  me  to  dinner,  two  days  before 
New  Year's  day.  The  party  was  not  numerous:  the  Presi- 
dent; Major  A.  Van  Buren,  his  son;  Robert  J.  Walker  of 
Mississippi,  the  great  financier,  and  his  wife,  the  belle  of 
Washington,  to  whom,  it  was  bruited  about  in  Washington, 
the  President  paid  unusual  attention;  Baron  Roenne,  the 
Prussian  Minister;  the  Brazilian  Minister,  his  wife  and  two 
most  beautiful  young  daughters,  one  of  whom  was  my  neigh- 
bor; one  or  two  Cabinet  Ministers,  and  Senators,  and  their 
wives ;  and  some  other  gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives and  their  ladies.  About  this  dinner  I  wrote  to  my  wife : 

"We  sat  down  at  six  and  rose  at  nine  o'clock.  Every- 
thing was  served  in  European  style,  only  the  champagne  was 


454  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

served  at  the  end  of  the  dinner  instead  of  at  the  commence- 
ment, and  was  drunk  out  of  tall  instead  of  flat  glasses.  This 
mode  of  serving  champagne  was  the  latest  fashion  when  I  left. 
The  wine  and  the  menu  were  excellent ;  hut  more  of  that  when 
we  meet.  There  were  only  about  eighteen  guests,  but  amongst 
them  some  of  the  most  beautiful  and  intellectual  women  of 
Washington.  The  toilets  were  not  extravagant,  the  dresses 
were  all  of  white  silk,  with  white  silk  embroidery,  very  decol- 
lette.  Only  the  married  ladies  wore  diamond  ornaments. 

"Some  of  the  large  stores  in  Washington  are  full  of  all 
sorts  of  Christmas  things,  and  are  splendidly  illuminated  at 
night.  In  Baltimore,  where  I  spent  a  few  days,  the  stores  are 
still  more  brilliant,  and  I  have  seen  Christmas  trees  shining 
through  many  windows.  I  am)  told  that  Christmas  is  cele- 
brated there  by  many  people  the  same  as  in  Germany.  In  ten 
years,  perhaps,  there  will  be  no  difference  between  outward 
life  here  and  in  Europe.  Refinement  of  sentiment  and  due 
appreciation  of  higher  art  will  develop  much  later." 

Two  days  after  my  arrival  in  Washington  I  made  a  trip 
to  Baltimore  to  negotiate  the  purchase  of  a  fire-engine,  which 
I  had  been  requested  to  do  by  the  Belleville  people.  It  took 
me  two  days  to  accomplish  this  business.  The  engine  was 
tested  at  a  public  square  in  my  presence,  the  thermometer 
being  some  ten  degrees  below  zero  and  a  stiff  wind  blowing; 
I  almost  froze  my  nose  and  ears.  I  also  called  upon  a  client 
of  ours,  whose  attorneys  and  lawyers  our  firm  had  been  for 
years,  in  the  matter  of  a  very  large  landed  estate  in  St.  Clair 
and  Madison.  He  introduced  me  to  his  family,  and  I  was 
very  handsomely  received.  One  of  his  sisters,  Miss  Norris, 
was  a  beauty  of  the  first  water.  Baltimore  girls  are  noted  for 
their  comeliness  all  over  the  United  States. 

On  the  first  of  January  there  was  the  usual  reception  at 
the  White  House,  where  I  had  of  course  to  go.  This  levee  has 
been  so  often  described  by  me  that  I  will  only  say  that  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  General  Scott  and  a  great  many  other 
army  and  navy  officers  in  full  uniform,  together  with  the 
whole  diplomatic  corps  and  a  bevy  of  very  finely  dressed  ladies. 
A  large  indiscriminate  crowd  was  admitted  after  the  diplo- 
mats, the  congressmen,  the  heads  of  departments  and  their 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  455 

ladies  had  gone  through  their  hand-shaking.  After  leaving 
the  White  House,  Governor  Reynolds  took  me  to  call  upon 
the  then  so  celebrated  editor  of  the  "Globe,"  old  Francis  P. 
Blair,  the  bosom  friend  of  General  Jackson  and  the  father  of 
Montgomery  and  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr. 

A  very  amusing  anecdote,  and  one  illustrating  the  free 
and  easy  way  which  at  that  time  at  least  prevailed  amongst 
the  people  and  the  authorities  generally,  I  must  not  omit  to 
tell.  In  order  to  obtain  the  compensation  due  the  messengers, 
I  had  to  present  my  account  to  one  of  the  auditors  of  the  treas- 
ury, who  calculated  the  number  of  miles  we  had  to  travel,  the 
salary  being  on  the  basis  of  mileage.  I  charged  the  same  as 
the  other  members  from  Illinois,  so  that  there  was  no  difficulty 
in  getting  my  account  audited.  While  chatting  with  the  audi- 
tor, Jesse  Miller,  a  large,  very  handsome,  blue-eyed,  blonde- 
haired  Pennsylvanian,  a  rough-looking  old  fellow,  a  militia- 
general  from  Michigan,  one  of  the  electors  of  that  State,  and 
also  a  messenger,  dropped  in  and  had  his  accounts  allowed. 
When  he  received  his  order  on  the  treasurer,  he  took  out  a  pair 
of  horn  spectacles,  looked  at  it  carefully,  and  then  said: 
"Lookie  here,  Mister!  I  am  told  the  Van  Buren  messengers 
get  double  the  pay  we  get  who  carry  only  the  Harrison  vote." 
Mr.  Miller,  in  very  good  humor,  asked  him:  "Do  you  believe 
that  we  are  all  of  us  here  a  set  of  rascals?"  "Of  course  I 
do,"  responded  the  old  Michigander.  Miller,  his  assistant, 
and  I  broke  out  into  a  loud  laughter,  and  the  general  seemed 
very  much  astonished  at  the  good-natured  way  in  which  his 
reply,  intended  as  an  offense,  was  taken. 

TO  BELLEVILLE  VIA  PHILADELPHIA 

The  rivers  being  by  this  time  all  closed,  I  had  concluded, 
in  order  to  avoid  about  eight  days'  stage-travel  in  the  dead  of 
winter,  to  go  to  New  York  and  then  by  sail  to  New  Orleans, 
and  from  there  by  boat  up  the  Mississippi.  So  when  I  left 
Washington  I  went  via  Baltimore  to  Philadelphia.  About 
Baltimore  I  wrote  home: 


456  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

"Baltimore  is  quite  an  interesting  city.  It  is  beautifully 
situated.  I  visited  the  Catholic  Cathedral,  a  noble  building, 
and  in  it  saw  a  painting  made  by  P.  Guerin,  which  I  admired 
greatly.  From  the  top  of  Washington  Monument,  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  feet  high,  I  had  a  splendid  view.  It  did  me 
so  much  good  to  be  once  again  in  a  large  city.  The  hotel  I 
was  in  —  the  Eutaw  House,  then  just  opened  —  has  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-eight  rooms;  several  ladies'  and  gentlemen's 
parlors;  exquisite  table  service,  better  than  anywhere  in  Ger- 
many, —  the  bill  in  proportion.  From  Baltimore  to  Phila- 
delphia, we  had  a  very  cold  ride.  In  the  latter  city,  I  found 
old  and  new  friends.  I  called  of  course  on  the  Tyndales  and 
Molly.  They  seemed  very  much  pleased  to  see  me.  Sharon 
was  my  cicerone.  He  took  me  to  Independence  Hall,  the  art 
gallery  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  to  Peal's  celebrated  Chinese 
Museum,  to  Girard  College,  and  to  the  theatres.  Tyndale's 
queensware  and  china  store  was  then  one  of  the  sights  of  Phil- 
adelphia, and  visited  by  many  strangers.  It  was  said  that  at 
that  time  it  was  the  largest  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the 
United  States.  It  was  an  importing  house,  and  there  were  to 
be  found  there  Chinese  and  Japanese  porcelains,  English,  Ber- 
lin and  Dresden  chinaware,  vases  from  Sevres,  of  great  beauty. 
Old  Mr.  Tyndale,  himself,  was  incurably  sick,  and  had  been 
confined  for  many  months  to  his  room.  Mrs.  Tyndale,  a 
woman  of  superior  mind  and  energy,  however,  superintended 
the  business,  and  his  son-in-law,  Edward  Mitchell  of  Belleville, 
the  chief  clerk,  became  afterwards  partner,  and  in  later  years 
owner  of  the  concern.  Sharon  and  some  of  his  very  beautiful 
sisters  also  acted  as  clerks." 

I  spent  much  time  with  this  interesting  family.  While  at 
Philadelphia  it  rained  nearly  all  the  time.  The  day  before  I 
was  to  leave  for  New  York,  news  arrived  that  the  Ohio  was 
opening  at  Pittsburg,  and  that  in  a  day  or  two  boats  would 
leave  for  the  West.  So  I  changed  my  plan  of  going  to  New 
York  and  New  Orleans,  and  took  the  road  to  Pittsburg. 

In  a  letter  to  Sophie  from  Pittsburg,  speaking  of  my  stay 
in  Philadelphia,  I  wrote: 

"I  was  exceedingly  well  pleased  with  Philadelphia.  In 
spite  of  the  bad  weather,  —  snow  and  rain  setting  in  soon  after 
my  arrival,  —  I  remained  there  ten  days.  All  the  Tyndales, 
even  the  old  gentleman,  upon  whom  they  say  I  almost  worked 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  457 

a  miracle,  received  me  most  cordially.  Molly's  little  Emma  is 
a  very  handsome,  quiet,  blue-eyed  child,  resembling  her 
mother.  I  passed  half  of  my  time  with  Molly,  who  treated  me 
with  an  almost  unexpected  friendship,  and  with  tears  in  her 
eyes  bade  me  farewell  when  I  left.  Everything  was  done  to 
make  my  stay  agreeable. ' ' 

Mr.  Wesselhoef t,  who  had  visited  us  some  few  years  before 
in  Illinois,  the  editor  of  the  ' '  Old  and  New  World, ' '  and  who 
had  also  established  a  very  judiciously  supplied  book  store, 
likewise  showed  me  much  attention,  introduced  me  to  the  most 
prominent  Germans,  and  took  me  to  a  concert  and  ball  of  the 
German  Liedertafel,  where  I  heard  really  delightful  vocal  and 
instrumental  music.  The  ball  was  well  managed,  and  I  was 
made  acquainted  with  many  German  ladies.  I  was  somewhat 
surprised  to  find  at  so  early  a  day,  such  intelligent  and  re- 
fined German  society  in  Philadelphia.  I  met  my  steadfast 
old  friend  Friedrich.  He  had  been  to  Germany  to  settle  his 
personal  affairs,  but  was  now  here  waiting  for  remittances, 
before  returning  to  Mexico.  He  was  the  same  warm  old 
friend,  but  would  not  follow  my  advice  to  let  Mexico  alone 
and  come  with  me. 

I  had  a  hard  time  reaching  Pittsburg  from  Philadelphia. 
Our  train  got  stalled  several  times  in  the  deep  cuts  which 
were  still  blocked  by  snow.  I  missed  the  train  for  Chambers- 
burg  at  Harrisburg,  being  several  hours  behind  time,  and  had 
to  stay  over  night  at  the  latter  place.  Then  from  Chambers- 
burg,  the  mountains  had  to  be  crossed  on  a  road,  much  nar- 
rower, and  not  near  as  well  kept  as  the  National  Road,  on 
which  I  had  crossed  the  Alleghenies  on  my  coming  East.  Up 
in  the  mountains  it  was  very  cold,  the  thermometer  being  sev- 
eral degrees  below  zero,  the  road  icy,  and  in  some  parts  still 
covered  with  deep  snow.  There  was  but  one  gentleman  and 
his  wife  and  a  little  child  along;  at  one  place,  near  the  top 
of  Laurel  Hill,  I  believe,  the  driver  refused  to  take  the  stage 
further.  The  snow,  he  said,  was  too  deep.  It  was  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  night.  We  had  to  get  into  an  open  wagon  on  run- 
ners. My  companions  had  but  one  blanket  between  them.  I, 


458  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

however,  had  a  very  large  Buffalo  robe,  and,  dividing  it  with 
the  lady  and  child,  we  got  through  better  than  we  expected 
and  at  a  more  rapid  rate.  We  were  out  two  nights  and  two 
days.  The  coaches  and  stages  very  often  slid  on  the  road, 
and  we  came  dangerously  near  the  precipices.  In  Pittsburg 
I  stayed  only  one  day,  taking  the  boat  on  the  18th  of  Janu- 
ary. We  came  down  the  Ohio  without  accident,  but  found 
much  ice  running  in  the  Mississippi,  so  that  we  had  a  slow 
and  somewhat  perilous  passage  up  the  river  to  St.  Louis. 

This  visit  to  the  East,  bringing  me  in  contact  with  so 
many  eminent  men,  giving  me  an  idea  of  parliamentary  pro- 
ceedings and  of  life  in  large  cities,  as  well  as  the  opportunity 
of  meeting  both  old  and  new  friends,  while  performing  a 
mission  considered  honorable,  and  at  the  same  time  attend- 
ing to  professional  and  private  business,  afforded  me  as  much 
instruction  as  pleasure.  It  undoubtedly  had  some  influence 
on  the  course  of  my  life,  in  giving  me  confidence  and  self- 
reliance,  without  which  all  other  qualities  count  but  little  in 
this  sub-lunary  world. 

PERSONAL  AND  LOCAL  INCIDENTS 

In  November  of  the  preceding  year,  some  of  our  Belle- 
ville people  had  formed  a  dramatic  reading  association,  which 
met  once  a  week  in  the  evening.  The  dramas  of  Lessing, 
Schiller,  Goethe,  and  Koerner  were  read,  and  occasionally  the 
ballads  and  lyrics  of  Schiller  and  Goethe  were  recited  by 
those  who  chose  to  do  so.  The  two  Misses  Hilgard,  Rosa  and 
Clara,  the  two  brothers  Tittmann,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hassel,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hildebrandt,  Dr.  Trapp,  and  Sophie  and  I  made 
up  the  society.  These  readings  were  continued  until  spring, 
and  gave  us  much  real  enjoyment.  They  had  the  not  uncom- 
mon effect  of  bringing  young  people  together  in  pleasant  re- 
lations, and  so  it  happened  that  Rosa,  in  the  April  following, 
was  married  to  Edward  Tittmann,  and  in  the  fall,  Clara  to 
Charles  Tittmann.  I  may  here  mention  as  a  rather  extraor- 
dinary occurrence  that  some  years  afterwards,  a  younger 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  459 

brother  of  the  Tittmanns,  Theodore,  paid  a  visit  to  his  brother 
in  Belleville,  fell  in  love  with  the  youngest  daughter  of  Mr. 
Hilgard,  Sr.,  the  lovely  and  sprightly  Theresa,  and  a  few  years 
afterwards  married  her  in  Heidelberg  and  returned  to  his 
parental  residence,  Dresden. 

Not  long  after  I  had  returned  from  the  East,  I  received 
a  letter  from  Governor  Carlin,  together  with  an  appointment. 
Our  Internal  Improvement  System  having  been  abandoned, 
with  its  embankments,  bridging,  trestles,  culverts,  etc.,  the  ties 
and  a  large  amount  of  railroad  iron  was  by  law  ordered  to 
be  sold  at  public  sale,  but  was  to  be  first  appraised  and  not 
to  be  sold  under  appraisement  prices.  The  Governor  was  to 
appoint  commissioners  to  make  this  appraisement,  and  he  ap- 
pointed me  one  of  them.  I  immediately  replied,  thanking 
him  for  his  good  intentions,  but  declining  the  office  for  the 
reason  that  I  had  neither  theoretical  nor  practical  knowledge 
of  such  matters.  Some  of  my  American  friends  thought  that 
I  was  a  very  queer  fellow  for  not  taking  an  appointment  that 
was  well  paid.  They  shared  the  idea  with  most  Americans, 
that  any  one  is  fit  for  any  office  when  he  can  get  it.  Upon 
this  and  similar  occasions  I  felt  the  misfortune  of  being  an 
exile  and  of  living  among  a  people  whose  sentiments  and 
thoughts  by  race  and  education  ran  in  quite  a  different  chan- 
nel from  those  of  the  people  of  my  native  land.  Having  cer- 
tainly no  reason  to  complain  of  the  position  I  have  attained 
here  and  having  met  with  almost  nothing  but  friendship  and 
good  will  from  my  new  fellow-citizens,  I  have  yet  often  felt  how 
different  their  views  were  from  mine,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
we  looked  upon  matters  from  a  different  standpoint.  I  had 
been  nurtured  in  German  thought  and  culture,  and  I  could 
hardly  be  expected  to  be  understood  by  those  who  had  been 
brought  up  on  different  lines.  A  thousand  topics,  which, 
among  Germans,  would  be  talked  about  intelligently,  were 
wholly  foreign  to  most  of  my  American  friends.  I  felt  this 
lack  of  sympathy  more  during  the  first  few  decades  of  my 
residence  than  I  did  at  a  later  period,  partly  for  the  reason 


460  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

that  general  culture  here  has,  in  recent  times,  made  great 
progress,  and  from  the  fact  that  I  have  lived  a  common  his- 
tory with  the  present  generation,  —  a  history  of  such  deep 
interest  and  such  grand  events  as  to  establish  a  strong  bond 
of  fellow-feeling  between  me  and  my  fellow-citizens. 

In  the  spring  I  had  an  adventure  which  might  have  had 
very  serious  consequences.  The  Circuit  Court  was  in  session 
at  Nashville,  Washington  County,  where  I  had  some  cases 
to  attend  to.  Mr.  Snyder  had  also  some  private  business 
there.  The  rivers  were  very  high,  and  the  Okaw,  in  the  Kas- 
kaskia  Bottom,  which  we  had  to  cross,  was  out  of  its  banks; 
having  overflowed  a  great  part  of  the  bottom  and  making  cer- 
tain sloughs,  dead  arms  of  the  river,  unfordable.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  we  took  a  roundabout  road  by  Fayetteville  to 
Nashville.  After  the  court  was  over  we  started  for  home 
and  Mr.  Snyder  proposed  taking  the  direct  route,  it  being  some 
ten  miles  nearer,  having  ascertained,  as  he  said,  that  the  river 
had  fallen  and  that  the  slough  was  fordable.  In  fact,  the 
stage  to  Shawneetown  had  come  through  the  night  before  we 
started. 

We  were  in  a  top-barouche  drawn  by  four  stout  horses. 
A  young  lawyer,  by  the  name  of  Case,  having  business  in 
Belleville,  was  taken  in  by  us.  I  drove.  It  was  a  bright  but 
cold  and  frosty  morning,  —  the  first  week  in  March,  —  and 
we  went  on  very  well.  When  we  reached  the  slough,  which 
was  there  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  wide,  I  stopped, 
discovering  that  it  was  what  is  called  ' '  swimming. ' '  But  Mr. 
Snyder  insisted,  that  inasmuch  as  the  stage  had  come  through, 
we  could  risk  it.  I  remonstrated,  remarking  that  while  I  had 
seen  the  fresh  tracks  of  the  stage  all  along,  there  had  been 
none  for  the  last  mile  or  two.  Nevertheless,  I  drove  in.  When 
about  half  way  across,  the  horses  lost  their  footing,  and  with 
the  water  up  to  their  necks  began  struggling,  one  horse  throw- 
ing his  head  and  neck  over  the  head  of  the  other.  Our  first 
idea  was  to  relieve  the  horses.  I  got  out  on  the  pole,  trying 
to  cut  the  collar-straps  and  the  traces,  but  I  broke  the  blades 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  461 

of  the  three  pocket  knives  we  had  and  did  not  succeed.  I  was 
in  the  water  up  to  my  armpits.  Mr.  Snyder  and  Case  stood 
on  the  seats  of  the  carriage.  The  weather  was  very  cold,  in 
fact  there  was  some  thin  ice  running  in  the  slough.  Mr.  Sny- 
der remarked :"  If  we  do  not  get  out  soon,  we  will  be  stiffened 
up  so  that  we  cannot  swim."  We  were  wrapped  up  in  great 
coats  and  had  heavy  boots  on.  Case  jumped  out  first  and  got 
on  shore  without  any  trouble.  In  fact,  the  distance  which  he 
had  to  swim  was  not  more  than  fifty  yards.  Mr.  Snyder  got 
out  next,  and  being  very  tall,  had  to  swim  but  a  short  dis- 
tance. I  was  the  last.  I  always  had  been  a  very  indifferent 
swimmer,  and  never  had  swum  with  clothes  on.  Yet  I  not 
only  got  through,  but,  having  lost  my  hat  in  jumping  out,  I 
swam  back  and  got  it.  When  I  made  the  plunge  I  was  half 
inclined  to  think  that  I  could  not  make  the  trip;  but,  Case 
being  a  very  fine  swimmer,  I  presumed  he  would  come  to  my 
rescue.  The  moment  we  got  out,  the  horses,  though  having 
to  swim  a  little,  pulled  the  carriage  over.  The  road  was  very 
rough,  and  the  horses  could  hardly  walk.  There  was  no 
house  within  a  mile.  Feeling  very  cold,  I  left  the  carriage, 
and,  running  as  fast  as  I  could,  came  to  a  log  cabin.  The 
husband  being  out  hunting,  I  asked  the  woman  for  a  pair  of 
trousers  and  a  shirt,  which  she  very  willingly  furnished.  At 
a  rousing  fire  I  put  on  a  butternut  suit,  and  when  my  friends 
arrived  I  already  felt  quite  comfortable.  Mr.  Snyder  pulled 
off  his  coat  and  vest,  and  lay  down  in  the  bed  well  covered  up. 
I  could  not  persuade  him  to  pull  off  his  shirt  and  undercloth- 
ing. My  clothes  having  dried  very  quickly,  I  gave  the  shirt 
and  trousers  of  our  backwoods  host,  who  had  come  home,  to 
Case.  The  good  woman  made  us  some  strong  coffee,  baked 
corn-bread  and  broiled  us  slices  of  bacon ;  so  we  fared  pretty 
well.  In  a  couple  of  hours  we  left,  but  could  not  reach  home 
that  night. 

Our  host  explained  the  matter  to  us.  The  stage  had 
passed  on  the  direct  route  the  night  before,  but  had  forded 
the  slough  about  half  a  mile  below,  where  the  road  ordinarily 


462  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

passed  through  it,  driving  through  the  woods,  —  the  water 
below  being  several  feet  lower  than  above.  The  only  damage 
I  suffered  was  the  spoiling  of  two  law  books  which  were  in 
my  saddle  bags  and  the  loss  of  a  deck  of  cards,  with  which 
we  had  played  a  game  of  whist  the  night  before.  I  did  not 
even  catch  cold;  but  Snyder  took  a  severe  cold,  and,  in  fact, 
his  disease  ever  since  that  accident  took  a  downward  course. 
He  died  about  a  year  afterwards. 

My  companions  started  a  story  about  me,  which  ran  the 
course  of  the  circuit  for  several  years,  and  which  was  partly 
true.  It  was  said  that  before  I  jumped  into  the  water,  I  ex- 
claimed: "If  this  was  the  Mississippi  River,  I  should  not 
mind  being  drowned,  but  to  be  drowned  in  a  miserable  Okaw 
slough  is  more  than  I  can  stand. ' '  I  think,  after  all  was  over, 
I  did  say  something  of  the  sort. 

Shortly  after  our  marriage,  Adolph,  the  youngest  brother 
of  Sophie,  became  a  member  of  our  family.  Being  taken  care 
of  by  his  affectionate  sister,  he  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  the 
Belleville  schools,  which  were  much  better  than  the  common 
schools  in  the  country.  Being  a  very  robust,  kind-hearted 
and  dutiful  boy,  he  made  himself  very  useful  in  our  house- 
hold. He  never  gave  us  the  least  cause  for  complaint. 

Theodore  Engelmann,  in  the  year  1840,  had  returned  to 
Belleville,  where  he  pursued,  in  our  office,  the  same  business 
in  which  he  had  been  engaged  in  St.  Louis,  studied  law,  and 
in  my  absence  attended  to  my  business.  He  became  an  in- 
mate in  our  family,  was  appointed  deputy  circuit-clerk  in 
1842,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1843,  appointed  chief-clerk 
in  1845,  and  when  that  office  was  made  elective  was  elected 
to  it  for  four  years.  In  1852,  he  became  and  remained  my 
partner  until  he  moved  out  on  his  farm  in  1859.  On  his 
marriage  with  Johanna  Kribben  in  1845,  he  established  his 
own  household  in  Belleville.  He  also  held  during  most  of 
this  time  the  office  of  a  notary  public  and  of  public  admin- 
istrator. 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  463 

There  being  no  election  of  any  importance  in  the  State 
this  year,  the  time  passed  very  quietly.  The  death  of  Gen- 
eral Harrison,  of  course,  created  much  excitement,  as  it  was 
evident  that  it  would  produce  a  break  in  the  Whig  party. 
Being  then  without  a  partner,  I  was  kept  pretty  busy  in  my 
practice,  which  for  reasons  already  indicated,  was  greatly  in- 
creasing. In  the  course  of  the  year,  however,  a  State  Con- 
vention took  place  at  Springfield  for  the  nomination  of  Gov- 
ernor and  other  State  officers,  to  be  elected  in  1842.  A.  W. 
Snyder  was  nominated  for  Governor,  which,  of  course,  was 
very  acceptable  to  me,  and  I  advocated  his  claims  the  best  I 
could  in  the  local  and  in  the  St.  Louis  papers.  At  the  ses- 
sion 1840-1841,  Shields  had  been  elected  Auditor  of  Public 
Accounts,  and  Trumbull  at  the  end  of  the  session  had  been 
appointed  by  Governor  Carlin,  Secretary  of  State.  Breese, 
Ford,  Douglas,  Scates  and  Treat  had  been  elected  Judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court  by  the  Legislature  in  addition  to  the  four 
old  judges.  The  Supreme  Judges  were  to  perform  also  the 
duties  of  Circuit  Judges. 

If  the  year  1841  was  comparatively  a  quiet  one  for  me, 
the  next  was  a  very  busy  and  boisterous  one.  In  May,  A.  W. 
Snyder  died  from  the  disease  under  which  he  had  been  suffer- 
ing for  six  years.  His  death  was  universally  deplored,  even 
by  his  political  enemies.  He  was  so  loyal  to  his  friends,  and 
yet  so  open  and  courteous  to  his  opponents,  that  he  had  no 
personal  enemies.  To  me  I  may  say  he  was  almost  devoted. 
When  absent  he  wrote  to  me  constantly,  and  his  letters 
breathed  the  warmest  friendship  for  me.  He  took  a  deep  in- 
terest in  all  that  concerned  me. 

The  party  was  much  disturbed  by  the  death  of  their 
nominee  for  Governor,  whose  election  was  considered  pretty 
certain ;  for  it  was  not  too  much  to  say  that  at  the  time  of  his 
death  Snyder  was,  north  and  south,  the  most  popular  man 
in  Illinois.  In  his  will,  he  appointed  General  Semple,  who 
had  been  removed  from  his  post  as  Minister  Resident  to  New 
Granada  by  Harrison,  Lyman  Trumbull,  and  myself,  his  ex- 


464  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ecutors.  The  two  first  named,  however,  on  account  of  their 
non-residence,  declined,  and  the  settlement  of  the  estate,  very 
difficult  in  times  when  all  landed  property  had  declined  in 
value  and  was  in  fact  hardly  salable  at  all,  fell  upon  me 
alone. 

ELECTED  TO  THE  ILLINOIS  LEGISLATURE 

Before  Mr.  Snyder  died  I  had  been  nominated  for  a  seat 
in  the  Legislature  by  a  county  convention,  rather  against  my 
will,  as  I  believed  it  would  injure  my  practice.  It  was  always 
my  opinion  that  no  one  should  engage  in  political  life,  unless 
he  had  made  himself  financially  independent,  at  least  to  the 
extent  of  being  able  to  get  along  without  office  and  of  not  be- 
ing compelled  to  seek  office  all  the  time  for  a  living.  But  my 
friends,  Mr.  Snyder  and  particularly  Shields,  who  wrote  me 
the  most  pressing  letters  from  Springfield,  trying  to  infuse  his 
own  ambition  into  me,  whom  he  considered  a  German  idealist, 
insisted,  and  I  finally  yielded  to  their  urgent  appeal. 

Seth  Catlin,  a  well-to-do  farmer  and  well  instructed,  who 
had  also  been  a  county-surveyor,  was  nominated  for  the  Sen- 
ate, and  Phillip  Penn  and  Amos  Thompson,  both  very  intel- 
ligent and  well-to-do  farmers,  were  nominated  as  my  colleagues 
for  the  House  of  Representatives.  Dr.  Roman  and  Col.  John 
Thomas,  who  had  been  Democrats,  and  as  such  had  been  mem- 
bers of  the  former  Legislature,  but  had  by  their  vacillating 
course  on  the  bank  and  other  questions,  not  given  satisfaction 
to  their  party,  had  joined  the  Whig  party.  They  now  were 
the  candidates  of  that  party.  Both  were  very  strong  men. 
Roman  was  a  man  of  superior  mind  and  an  excellent  phy- 
sician. Thomas  was  very  shrewd,  with  ample  means  and  much 
experience.  Both  had  been  amongst  my  earliest  acquaintances. 
I  forget  who  the  opponent  of  Catlin  was,  —  I  believe,  a  ren- 
egade Democrat.  The  main  object  of  the  Whigs  was  to  beat 
me.  If  they  had  brought  out  a  Whig  he  would  have  stood  no 
chance ;  so  they  persuaded  a  good  citizen,  A.  Badgley,  belong- 
ing to  one  of  the  best  known  and  largest  pioneer  families  in 
the  county,  to  present  himself  as  an  independent  Democrat. 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  465 

Badgley  had  held  many  important  offices,  was  a  man  of  good 
mind,  and  had  always  been  a  Democrat,  though  somewhat 
tinctured  with  nativism.  The  Native  American  party  had  or- 
ganized itself  in  Illinoistown,  —  now  East  St.  Louis,  —  count- 
ing there  about  fifty  members,  and  being  supposed  to  control 
one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  votes.  So  my  position 
was  somewhat  more  difficult  than  that  of  my  colleagues  on 
the  ticket.  The  Whigs  would  vote  in  a  mass  for  Badgley, 
so  would  the  Native  Americans,  and  also  a  good  many  Dem- 
ocrats, being  friends  and  old  neighbors  of  his,  and  besides, 
there  was  his  vast  relationship.  If  Mr.  Snyder  had  lived 
there  would  have  been  no  trouble.  One  word  from  him  would 
have  caused  Mr.  Badgley  to  withdraw. 

In  place  of  Mr.  Snyder,  Thomas  Ford,  one  of  the  Su- 
preme Judges,  was  nominated  for  Governor.  He  had  not  de- 
sired to  be  a  candidate,  but  finally  yielded.  Though  he  had 
been  brought  up  in  southern  Illinois,  he  had  so  long  resided 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  that  he  was  almost  entirely 
unknown  in  our  region  of  the  country.  I  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  him  while  attending  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
had  formed  a  very  high  opinion  of  him.  There  was  nothing 
showy  about  him;  quite  the  reverse.  He  was  no  public 
speaker,  and  hated  everything  that  looked  like  demagogism. 
Small  and  slender  of  stature,  his  features  were  rather  sharp 
and  irregular,  but  he  had  brilliant  eyes.  He  impressed  one 
with  the  idea  that  he  was  a  man  of  thought  and  also  one  of 
firmness.  On  the  ordinary  mass  of  people  he  made  no  im- 
pression. By  his  opinions  as  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  by  his  messages,  and  above  all  by  his  "History 
of  Illinois,"  published  after  his  death,  it  became  manifest  to 
all  men  whose  judgment  is  worth  anything,  that  in  the  frail 
form  of  Governor  Ford  there  existed  a  very  acute,  sagacious 
and  impartial  mind.  His  history,  though  only  a  fragment, 
is  a  model  of  pure,  nervous,  Anglo-Saxon  English,  and  his 
views  on  all  public  matters,  on  the  character  of  the  people, 
on  the  methods  of  politicians,  on  the  working  of  our  Repub- 


466  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

lican  institutions,  show  a  mental  grasp  of  great  vigor  and  a 
philosophical  insight  really  astonishing  in  a  man  who  had 
nothing  like  a  classical  education. 

Referring  in  his  history  to  his  election,  and  after  remark- 
ing that  he  had  never  before  been  much  concerned  in  political 
conflicts  of  the  day  and  had  held  no  political  offices  at  all,  not 
having  even  been  a  candidate  for  one,  he  speaks  of  the  embar- 
rassing situation  of  one  who  is  raised  to  the  highest  position 
in  the  State,  without  having  been  previously  the  leader  or  the 
principal  embodiment  of  his  party.  He  writes  most  justly: 

"Mr.  Snyder  had  been  nominated  because  he  had  been  the 
leader  of  his  party.  Mr.  Snyder  died,  and  I  was  nominated 
not  because  I  was  a  leader,  for  I  was  not,  but  because  it  was 
believed  I  had  no  more  than  an  ordinary  share  of  ambition; 
because  it  was  doubtful  whether  any  one  of  the  leaders  could 
be  elected,  and  because  it  was  thought  I  would  stand  more  in 
need  of  support  from  leaders  than  an  actual  leader  would. 
To  this  cause,  and  perhaps  there  were  others,  I  trace  the  fact 
which  will  hereafter  appear,  that  I  was  never  able  to  com- 
mand the  support  of  the  entire  party  which  elected  me.  I 
venture  to  assert  that  the  moral  power  belonging  to  the 
leadership  of  the  dominant  party  is  greater  than  the  legal 
power  of  the  office  conferred  by  the  Constitution  and  the  laws. 
In  fact  it  has  appeared  to  me  at  times  that  there  is  very  little 
power  of  government  in  this  country,  except  that  which  per- 
tains to  the  leadership  of  the  party  of  the  majority.  General 
Jackson  not  only  governed  while  he  was  President,  but  eight 
years  afterwards,  and  has  since  continued  to  govern  even 
after  his  death.  When  men  who  are  not  leaders  are  put  in 
high  office,  it  is  generally  done  through  the  influence  of  lead- 
ers who  expect  to  govern  through  them.  Soon  after  my  elec- 
tion I  ascertained  that  quite  a  number  of  such  leaders  imag- 
ined that  they,  instead  of  myself,  had  been  elected,  and  could 
only  be  convinced  to  the  contrary  on  being  referred  to  the  re- 
turns of  the  election." 

I  can  say  here  truthfully  that  Governor  Ford,  under 
many  difficulties,  did  show  that  he  was  the  Governor,  and  his 
policy  as  to  the  main  question  of  the  banks,  and  the  still  more 
important  one  of  our  financial  condition  and  the  sustaining 
of  the  fair  credit  of  our  State,  in  spite  of  much  opposition, 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  467 

even  in  his  own  party,  carried  the  day  and  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  the  ultimate  prosperity  of  this  State. 

The  election  coming  in  August,  my  colleagues  and  I 
started  out  on  horseback  in  July  on  our  canvassing  tour. 
We  commenced  at  Lebanon,  Catlin  opening  with  a  few  re- 
marks proclaiming  himself  an  out-and-out  Jackson  man,  op- 
posed to  banks,  tariff,  etc.,  and  in  favor  of  retrenchment  and 
reform.  He  spoke  sensibly.  I  had  to  make  the  principal 
speech,  and  our  friends  seemed  to  be  well  pleased  with  it. 
We  took  in  Mascoutah,  the  new  name  for  Mechanicsburg, 
on  our  way,  but  the  place  being  too  small,  we  stayed  there 
only  over  night,  and  had  friendly  chats  with  the  people  that 
called  at  our  inn.  Next  day  we  addressed  the  people  in  and. 
about  Fayetteville,  and  then  went  to  near  New  Athens,  where 
we  had  a  large  crowd,  mostly  Germans.  The  following  week  we 
went  down  to  Cahokia,  where  I  explained  to  the  Creole  French, 
the  bank  and  tariff  questions  in  Parisian  French,  my  speech 
having  been  corrected  by  Mr.  Hilgard,  Junior,  of  the  Moun- 
tain. I  doubt  whether  they  understood  much  of  what  I  said, 
but  they  seemed  to  be  greatly  pleased  to  be  addressed  in  a 
language  that  sounded  like  their  own  patois. 

Of  course  I  made  a  great  many  more  speeches  independ- 
ently in  Belleville  and  other  places.  Shortly  before  the  elec- 
tion I  concluded  that  I  would  beard  the  lion  in  his  den.  I  an- 
nounced a  meeting  at  Illinoistown,  where  the  Native  Ameri- 
cans, as  already  stated,  had  formed  a  club,  and  where  a  paper 
advocating  their  principles  was  published.  I  found  a  large 
crowd  and  a  number  of  the  St.  Louis  Native  American  Club 
present.  No  one  was  with  me,  except  Colonel  Taylor,  whom 
I  had  brought  over  from  St.  Louis  with  me.  He  was  a  very 
prominent  Illinois  Democrat,  then  residing  in  Ottawa,  but 
now  in  Mendota,  Illinois.  I  made  my  speech  on  the  general 
topics  of  the  day  and  then  pitched  into  the  Native  American 
platform.  All  at  once  a  very  intelligent  young  gentleman, 
the  editor  of  the  Native  paper,  or  the  President  of  the  Club, 
stepped  forward,  and  asked  permission  to  interrupt  me.  * '  We 


468  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

are  not,"  he  said,  "opposed  to  all  foreigners;  but  we  do  not 
want  the  ignorant  and  poverty  ridden  among  us  to  make  our 
laws.  Now  we  know  you,  and  we  know  that  you  would  do 
nothing  but  what  in  your  opinion  would  benefit  the  country. 
Of  such  naturalized  citizens  we  feel  proud.  Those  of  our 
party  who  share  your  political  opinions,  will  certainly  vote 
for  you."  I  now  burst  out:  "These  may  be  your  private 
opinions,  but  they  are  not  the  principles  of  your  party.  Your 
addresses  and  your  press  seek  to  disfranchise  indiscriminately 
all  not  to  the  manor  born,  —  you  denounce  all  Catholics,  you 
burn  up  their  churches.  I  here  tell  you  that  I  do  not  want 
your  votes,  and  I  would  feel  ashamed  if  any  one  of  that  un- 
American  party  would  vote  for  me."  Taylor  hurrahed,  clap- 
ped his  hands,  and  the  Democrats  present  joined  in  and 
cheered  me.  My  generous  Native  American  friend  looked 
rather  crest-fallen.  I  got  a  very  fair  vote  in  that  precinct, 
and  a  large  majority  at  Cahokia,  where  heretofore  the  Whigs, 
under  the  leadership  of  the  very  popular,  intelligent  and 
wealthy  leader,  Col.  Vital  Jarrot,  had  always  carried  the  day. 
Our  whole  ticket  down  to  the  coroner  was  elected  by  very 
large  majorities  at  the  August  election.  As  the  vote  at  that 
time  was  taken  viva  voce,  and  was  immediately  known  at  the 
close  of  the  polls,  indeed  often  an  hour  or  two  before,  I  learned 
that  I  was  elected  when  half  way  between  Cahokia  and  Belle- 
ville, —  I  had  stayed  at  Cahokia  until  the  voting  was  nearly 
over.  As  I  was  the  first  German  ever  elected  to  the  Legislature 
in  Illinois  or  Missouri,  the  German  presses  in  both  States,  and 
in  fact  in  many  other  States,  took  notice  of  it  and  gave  me  a 
rather  unmerited  prominence.  I  may  state,  however,  that  at 
that  early  time  the  Legislatures  stood  much  higher  in  the 
opinion  of  the  people  than  they  do  now.  They  had  short 
sessions.  There  were  but  few  corporations  or  manufacturers 
to  lobby  measures,  and  there  were  hardly  any  election  ex- 
penses. "We  always  stayed  with  friends  when  traveling 
through  the  county.  We  had  our  horses  anyway.  My  entire 
electioneering  expenses  amounted  to  four  dollars,  and  that  for 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  469 

the  printing  of  tickets.  One  Democratic  Frenchman  from  the 
Bottom  afterwards  sent  me  a  bill  of  $6.65,  for  which  he  said 
he  had  gratuitously  treated  for  me.  As  he  was  a  good  fellow, 
I  paid  him,  although  I  had  not  given  him  the  slightest  author- 
ity to  do  so. 

THE  OLD  LUTHERANS  AND  BISHOP  STEPHAN 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  I  brought  to  a  close  a  law-suit, 
or  rather  a  series  of  suits,  which  had  become  a  matter  of  much 
notoriety  and  excitement,  even  in  a  part  of  Germany.  Some 
time  about  1835  in  Prussia  and  Saxony,  religious  societies  had 
been  formed,  calling  themselves  "Old  Lutherans,"  claiming 
that  the  Lutheran  Church  had  degenerated  and  had  made  con- 
cessions to  the  Reformed  Church  as  well  as  to  the  Rationalists. 
The  Old  Lutherans  took  their  stand  on  the  dogmas  and  doc- 
trines of  Martin  Luther,  as  they  were  understood  three  hun- 
dred years  ago.  These  Old  Lutherans  soon  came  into  collision 
with  their  respective  governments,  felt  aggrieved,  and  many 
emigrated.  At  the  head  of  one  of  these  societies  stood  Martin 
Stephan,  of  Dresden,  called  Bishop  Stephan,  and  he  organized 
an  emigration-society  of  the  members  of  his  church  on  a  grand 
scale.  Under  his  guidance,  some  eight  hundred  people  and 
some  eight  ministers,  or  pastors,  as  they  were  called,  arrived 
at  St.  Louis  in  1839.  It  seems  that  already  on  the  voyage 
difficulties  had  arisen,  and  shortly  after  their  arrival  in  St. 
Louis  some  of  the  ministers  made  charges  against  the  Bishop, 
and  the  papers  were  soon  full  of  very  unpleasant  controversies. 
The  great  mass  of  the  sect,  however,  remained  true  to  Ste- 
phan, whom  they  looked  upon  as  a  second  Moses.  By  the  help 
of  a  land-agency  a  large  tract  of  land,  of  some  six  thousand 
acres  was  purchased,  partly  from  the  government  and  partly 
from  private  owners.  It  was  situated  in  Perry  County,  Mis- 
souri, about  one  hundred  miles  south  of  St.  Louis,  and  con- 
tained several  farms.  What  principally  determined  this  pur- 
chase was  the  fact  that  part  of  it  was  a  strip  of  land  on  the 
mouth  of  a  large  creek  on  the  Mississippi  River,  about  half 


470  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

a  mile  long  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  on  which  there  was 
a  good  landing,  with  steep  enclosing  hills  both  above  and  be- 
low. West  of  this  piece  of  prairie  bottom-land  hills  again 
arose,  on  the  top  of  which  the  great  bulk  of  the  purchase  was 
located.  When  I  visited  the  place  there  were  some  little  vil- 
lages laid  out,  one  called  Dresden,  another  Altenburg,  and  the 
few  houses  on  the  landing  were  called  Wittenberg.  The  land 
on  the  hills  was  not  very  rich  and  not  easily  cultivated  on  ac- 
count of  its  unevenness.  Yet  those  hardworking,  industrious 
and  most  economical  Saxons  had,  with  the  hardest  labor,  culti- 
vated a  considerable  part  of  it,  and  wheat  seemed  to  thrive 
there  remarkably  well. 

The  colony  had  not  been  there  more  than  a  year  or  so  be- 
fore a  great  contention  arose.  A  majority  of  the  colonists 
became  dissatisfied  with  Bishop  Stephan.  All  kinds  of 
charges  were  brought  against  him.  Finally  a  revolt  took  place, 
and  he  was  driven  out  of  his  house  and  home  forcibly,  and 
with  his  housekeeper  —  his  wife  had  been  left  at  home  —  sent 
in  a  boat  over  the  river  into  Illinois,  destitute  of  everything. 
On  my  return  from  the  East,  January,  1841,  I  found  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Stephan,  dated  Kaskaskia,  in  which  he,  in  general 
and  rather  indefinite  terms,  gave  me  an  account  of  his  calam- 
itous condition,  saying  that  he  had  been  robbed  of  all  his 
property  and  was  near  starving.  He  begged  me  to  take  his 
case  in  hand  and  see  him  righted.  He  took  me,  very  strangely, 
for  a  brother  of  the  poet  Theodore  Koerner,  who^had  fallen 
in  battle  in  1813.  I  had,  of  course,  heard  and  read  something 
about  the  squabbles  amongst  the  Old  Lutheran  colonists,  but 
had  paid  no  attention  to  them,  as  strife  and  troubles  were  very 
common  occurrences  in  such  emigration-societies  after  their 
arrival.  Yet  I  could  not  very  well  decline  to  look  into  the 
matter  at  least.  So  at  the  next  spring  term  of  the  court  at 
Kaskaskia  I  called  upon  Mr.  Stephan.  I  found  him  and  a 
woman,  his  housekeeper,  who  was  much  above  the  canonical 
age,  and  rather  ugly,  in  a  bare  room,  which  some  kind  inhab- 
itant had  let  them  have  in  an  otherwise  empty  house.  An  old 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  471 

straw  mattress,  a  couple  of  chairs  and  an  old  wooden  chest, 
containing  the  woman's  wardrobe,  was  all  the  furniture  in 
the  room.  Stephan  was  about  six  feet  high,  of  almost  her- 
culean frame,  with  a  long  face  and  a  very  energetic  look.  He 
did  not  look  to  me  at  all  like  a  man  of  thought.  He  was  much 
dispirited.  Coming  to  Randolph  County  without  means,  the 
county  authorities,  although  he  was  not  legally  entitled  to  it, 
had  admitted  him  to  the  poor-house,  but  the  treatment  there 
was  so  horrible,  he  told  me,  that  he  had  left  it  and  was  now 
living  in  town,  where  some  good  people  had  from  time  to  time 
given  him  means  to  support  himself.  He  was  confused,  and 
it  was  hard  to  obtain  accurate  statements  from  him,  such  as 
lawyers  need  for  instituting  suit.  By  vigorous  cross-exam- 
ination, I  got,  however,  a  sufficient  idea  of  what  to  do.  I 
promised  to  go  to  Perryville,  the  county  seat  of  Perry  County, 
as  soon  as  my  courts  were  over,  and  look  up  the  records,  ex- 
amine witnesses,  etc. 

In  June,  I  believe,  accompanied  by  Theodore  Engelmann, 
I  went  to  the  place,  found  that  there  was  a  proceeding  pend- 
ing against  him,  charging  him  with  fraud  and  deceit  in  hav- 
ing had  all  the  titles  to  the  land  of  the  society  made  out  to 
himself,  while  he  had  purchased  it  with  the  money  of  the  com- 
mon treasury,  and  asking  the  court  to  compel  him  to  make 
over  the  land  to  the  communal  members.  There  was  nothing 
in  this  allegation,  for  everything,  as  I  learned,  was  done 
openly  and  with  the  consent  of  all  the  members  of  the  society. 
The  idea  of  the  association  was,  as  expressed  in  its  constitution, 
that  the  land  should  be  held  for  the  benefit  of  all  by  the  Bish- 
op ;  the  members  to  occupy  the  same  for  themselves  and  heirs 
in  such  quantity  as  was  proportionate  to  the  money  each  head 
of  a  family  or  each  single  man  had  paid.  The  intention  was 
that  the  members  should  not  have  the  legal  title,  for  they 
might  then  sell  the  land  to  outsiders,  not  members  of  their 
church,  and  thereby  introduce  heresy  and  the  seeds  of  dis- 
cord. It  was  a  sort  of  hierarchical  scheme.  Of  course,  I  in- 
tended to  make  no  defense  to  this,  but  only  to  save  the  land 


472  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

and  house  of  the  Bishop,  to  which  he  was  entitled  by  having 
himself  put  in  a  sufficient  amount  of  his  own  money.  So  one 
of  the  most  momentous  charges  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  who 
were  not  lawyers  was  at  once  dispelled. 

We  went  down  to  Wittenberg.  It  was  really  a  well- 
chosen  spot ;  the  only  drawback  being  its  liability  to  be  over- 
flowed whenever  the  river  was  unusually  high.  The  town  had 
already  been  some  feet  under  the  water  several  times  in  the 
spring  seasons.  A  little  below,  right  in  the  middle  of  the 
river,  stood  the  great  rock  called  the  Grand  Tower,  and  also 
another  one  called  the  Devil's  Bake-Oven.  The  scenery  was 
really  very  romantic.  All  the  German  people  we  met  were 
very  good-natured  and  kind,  but  somewhat  suspicious,  having 
already  learned  that  Stephan  had  employed  lawyers  to  re- 
cover his  property.  I  found  sufficient  foundation  for  com- 
mencing several  actions,  one  against  half  a  dozen  of  the  ring- 
leaders who  had  mobbed  the  Bishop 's  house,  had  dragged  him 
and  his  housekeeper  out  of  it,  made  him  sign  all  kinds  of  re- 
nunciations and  releases,  and  then  put  him  in  a  boat  and 
sent  him  over  to  Illinois;  I  also  began  several  other  suits 
against  persons  who  had  locked  up  in  a  warehouse  all  his 
furniture,  with  his  bedding,  his  library,  containing  1,500  vol- 
umes, his  pictures  and  other  things ;  and  I  also  charged  others 
with  having  taken  possession  of  his  money,  claiming  it  as  be- 
longing to  the  common  treasury. 

In  the  fall  I  went  down  again.  The  community  had  en- 
gaged some  of  the  best  lawyers  in  that  section  of  the  country, 
which  was  the  best  thing  for  me.  They  at  once  saw  that 
Stephan  would  succeed  in  many  cases,  and,  while  they  tried 
to  delay  the  trials  by  all  sorts  of  pleadings,  in  which  they 
did  not  succeed,  they  finally  advised  their  clients  to  com- 
promise. With  that  end  in  view,  I  had  the  cases  continued  to 
the  spring  term  of  1842.  What  made  against  Stephan  was 
this,  that  the  persons  who  had  committed  violence  on  Stephan 
and  his  housekeeper  were,  as  is  usually  the  case,  not  personally 
responsible  for  the  heavy  damages  which  would  undoubtedly 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  473 

have  been  recovered,  and  it  was  hard  to  prove  that  responsible 
persons  had  instigated  the  riot,  although  that  was  certainly 
the  case.  It  was  also  not  an  easy  matter  to  prove,  as  at  that 
time  parties  could  not  testify  in  their  own  behalf,  how  much 
of  the  money  in  the  common  treasury  belonged  to  Stephan; 
further,  many  counter-claims  were  made  against  him.  All 
his  goods  were  finally  delivered  to  him,  but  in  bad  condition, 
as  the  warehouse  in  which  they  had  been  kept  had  been  flood- 
ed by  the  water  of  the  river.  His  land  was  decreed  to  him, 
a  certain  amount  of  money  was  paid  him,  and  all  the  costs 
fell  on  the  defendants.  As  these  proceedings  were  much  com- 
mented on  both  in  the  German  and  the  American-German 
press,  and  seemed  to  create  much  interest,  I  have  briefly  men- 
tioned them. 

What  ultimately  became  of  Bishop  Stephan  I  do  not 
know.  I  have  a  dim  recollection,  however,  that  after  awhile 
he  gathered  together,  somewhere  in  Illinois,  a  congregation  of 
Stephanites.  He  still  retained  some  adherents  who  considered 
him  a  martyr  and  a  saint,  while  others  painted  him  in  the 
deepest  colors  as  a  tyrant,  a  hypocrite  and  a  licentious  sinner. 
Well,  Mahomet  did  not  fare  better.  The  American  consul  in 
Leipsic  wrote  me,  after  the  case  was  settled,  that  I  had  been 
violently  abused  in  the  Dresden  and  Leipsic  papers  for  having 
taken  up  Stephen's  case. 

If  legal  proceedings  in  the  smaller  and  remoter  counties 
of  Illinois  were  not  carried  on  in  the  most  dignified  manner, 
the  court  in  Perry  County  was  the  most  free  and  easy  I  have 
ever  been  in.  The  judge,  a  very  good  one  by  the  way,  smoked 
on  the  bench,  and  so  did  the  lawyers  and  every  one  else  who 
felt  like  it.  What  amused  me  most  was,  when  at  one  time, 
the  jury  having  brought  in  a  verdict,  they  were  addressed  by 
the  successful  party  on  leaving  the  box  with,  "Thank  ye, 
gentlemen;  and  now  come  on  and  I  will  give  you  a  treat." 

A  VISIT  FROM  CHARLES  DICKENS 

In  the  same  year,  1842,  Belleville  was  favored  by  a  visit 
from  Charles  Dickens.  Dickens  had  expressed  a  great  desire 


474  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

in  St.  Louis  to  see  a  prairie,  and  his  friends  there  rathe* 
foolishly  procured  him  the  sight  of  one  in  St.  Clair  County 
and  made  up  a  considerable  party  to  drive  him  out  east  ol 
Lebanon  into  Looking  Glass  Prairie.  I  say  foolishly,  for 
while  a  prairie  is  a  most  beautiful  sight  in  spring  and  sum- 
mer, in  March,  —  and  it  was  early  in  March  when  they  went 
out,  —  it  presents  a  bleak  and  rather  desolate  aspect.  The 
grass  is  all  burnt  down  in  the  late  fall  and  winter,  and  one 
looks  over  a  brown  and  often  black  surface  without  any  re- 
lief. In  his  "American  Notes,"  he  gives  a  ludicrous  and 
rather  exaggerated  account  of  the  trip,  particularly  through 
the  American  Bottom,  which  at  that  season  of  the  year,  par- 
ticularly before  it  was  cleared  and  turnpiked,  was  miry  and 
full  of  holes.  According  to  him,  the  bottom  extended  clear 
to  Belleville,  which  place  he  locates  in  a  swamp.  The  hotel, 
the  Primm  House,  then  called  the  Mansion  House,  gave  him 
occasion  for  some  funny  remarks,  not  altogether  fictitious.  He 
speaks  of  the  trial  of  a  horse-thief  going  on  at  the  court-house. 
Of  this  he  was  misinformed,  for  he  never  saw  the  inside  of 
the  court.  We  had  not  been  informed  of  the  visit.  Court 
was  in  session,  and  some  lawyer  and  I  were  just  arguing  a 
law  point  before  Judge  Breese,  when  Judge  Krum  of  St. 
Louis  came  in,  and,  calling  Shields  aside,  told  him  that  Dick- 
ens was  at  the  Mansion  House.  Shields  then  spoke  to  me  and 
some  other  lawyers,  and  after  we  had  finished  with  the  suit, 
they  and  I  constituted  ourselves  a  committee  to  call  upon  the 
celebrated  author  and  to  welcome  him  on  behalf  of  the  Belle- 
ville people.  We  went  to  the  hotel  and  found  a  rather  slender 
but  well-knit,  bright-looking  gentleman,  very  plain  and  un- 
affected, whom  it  did  one  good  to  look  upon.  Though  early 
in  the  season,  it  was  a  warm,  almost  sultry  day,  and  he  had  on 
a  large,  wide-brimmed  straw  hat,  with  a  broad,  light  blue 
band,  —  a  rather  strange  costume  here  for  March. 

Some  of  the  St.  Louis  gentlemen  took  me  aside  and  re- 
marked that  Mr.  Dickens  would  like  to  look  at  our  court  very 
much,  but  unless  it  was  certain  that  the  judge  would  invite 


THE  YEARS  1841-1842  475 

him  to  take  a  seat  on  the  bench,  they  did  not  think  it  was 
judicious  to  take  him  there.  So  I  went  to  the  court-room  and 
informed  Judge  Breese  of  what  the  St.  Louis  lawyer  had  told 
me.  Breese  bristled  up  and  said  sternly:  "Don't  talk  to  me 
of  this !  He  is  one  of  those  puffed  up  Englishmen,  who,  when 
they  get  home,  use  their  pens  only  to  ridicule  and  traduce  us. 
He  can  come  in  like  any  other  mortal."  So  the  intended  visit 
to  the  court-house  did  not  come  off. 

After  Dickens 's  "American  Notes"  were  published,  Gov- 
ernor Kinney  grew  very  angry  about  them,  and  he  undertook 
to  castigate  Mr.  Dickens  for  his  audacity.  The  idea  in  itself 
was  ridiculous  of  issuing  a  miserable  little  printed  pamphlet 
from  the  village  of  Belleville  against  Dickens 's  "Notes," 
which  had  been  translated  into  all  civilized  languages.  It 
was  like  firing  a  pop-gun  against  a  first-class  iron-clad.  Gov- 
ernor Kinney  was  a  bright  man,  a  very  fine  and  witty  con- 
versationalist, but  a  very  poor  writer.  His  ire  was  not  so 
much  directed  against  Dickens  himself,  (though  he  covered 
him  with  the  most  unparliamentary  epithets,)  as  against 
Great  Britain  in  general.  The  pamphlet  was  a  terrible  fail- 
ure. It  is  very  rare  now,  but  I  was  quite  lately  in  a  very  com- 
ical manner  reminded  of  it.  At  a  visit  to  Princeton,  in  our 
State,  when  sitting  after  dinner  in  the  hall  of  the  hotel,  a 
gentleman  who  had  himself  introduced  to  me,  said  he  was 
very  glad  to  make  at  last  the  acquaintance  of  the  gentleman 
who  had  put  down  Mr.  Dickens  so  ably  for  writing  his  ' '  Amer- 
ican Notes. ' '  I  repudiated  the  compliment  decidedly.  He  had 
learned  that  Governor  Koerner,  —  by  which  name  I  passed 
generally  but  undeservedly,  since  I  have  been  only  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor,  —  was  in  town,  and  he  had  taken  me  to  be  Gov- 
ernor Kinney,  who  had  then  been  dead  more  than  forty  years. 


In  the  summer  Mr.  Van  Buren  visited  the  West  and  came 
to  St.  Louis.  From  the  landing  he  was  escorted  to  the  Plant- 
ers' House  by  a  very  large  procession.  In  reply  to  a  reception- 


476  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

address  by  James  B.  Bowlin,  a  leading  politician,  he  made  a 
very  neat  speech.  I  renewed  my  former  acquaintance  with 
him.  In  the  evening  he  received  an  ovation  from  the  Germans. 
About  a  thousand  had  made  up  a  real  German  torch-light 
procession,  with  wax  and  pitch  torches,  —  a  new  sight  to  the 
Americans,  —  and  serenaded  him  at  the  hotel.  Van  Buren 
was  surprised  and  made  his  acknowledgement  in  a  short  but 
very  eloquent  address.  It  was  the  first  time  that  the  German 
element  made  itself  felt  by  a  great  demonstration.  Van  Buren 
knew  that  they  had  most  faithfully  stood  by  him  in  the  late 
election. 

On  Washington's  Birthday,  February  22,  1842,  our  little 
family  was  increased  by  the  birth  of  a  pretty  little  girl,  who 
was  named  Augusta  for  my  dear  departed  sister  and  also 
Sophie  for  her  mother.  I  may  mention  also  here  that  we  had 
now  taken  a  very  neat  new  house,  on  the  corner  of  Second, 
North  and  Richland  Streets,  standing  on  a  block  or  half  a 
block  of  ground,  with  a  fine  flower  and  kitchen  garden,  a 
large  stable  and  other  outhouses,  and  a  very  spacious,  shady 
yard,  —  a  most  pleasant  place,  particularly  for  the  children. 
Towards  the  north  there  was  a  fine  forest. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

In  the  Legislature  and  on  the  Supreme  Bench 

I  now  had  to  start  for  Springfield  to  take  my  place  in 
the  Legislature,  the  sitting  of  which  commenced  on  the  first 
Monday  in  December. 

The  difficulties  this  Legislature  had  to  encounter  were 
numerous.  Governor  Ford  in  his  history  gives  a  lively  des- 
cription of  the  condition  of  our  State  at  the  time  he  entered 
upon  his  office,  December,  1842. 

"There  was  no  money  in  the  treasury  whatever,"  he 
writes,  "not  even  to  pay  the  postage  on  letters.  The  revenues 
insufficient,  the  people  unwilling  and  unable  to  pay  high  tax- 
es, and  the  State  had  borrowed  itself  out  of  all  credit.  A 
debt  of  nearly  fourteen  millions  of  dollars  had  been  contract- 
ed, the  currency  of  the  State  had  been  annihilated.  The  whole 
people  were  indebted  to  the  merchants,  nearly  all  of  whom 
were  indebted  to  the  banks  or  foreign  merchants,  and  the 
banks  owed  everybody,  and  none  were  able  to  pay.  To  many 
persons  it  seemed  impossible  to  devise  any  system  of  policy 
out  of  this  jumble  and  chaos  which  would  relieve  the  State. 
Every  one  had  his  plan  and  the  confusion  of  counsels  among 
prominent  men  was  equalled  only  by  the  confusion  of  public 
affairs." 

THE  ILLINOIS  LEGISLATURE  OP   1842-43 

The  task  before  the  Legislature  was  to  put  the  banks  in 
liquidation;  to  make  them  give  up  our  stock,  amounting  to 
more  than  three  millions,  in  payment  of  the  debts  (loaned 
money  and  treasury-warrants  in  their  hands)  which  the  State 
owed  the  banks;  to  adopt  some  measures  by  which  the  canal 
could  be  completed;  and  to  elect  a  United  States  Senator  in 
place  of  Judge  Young,  whose  term  was  about  expiring,  as 


478  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

well  as  certain  other  State  officers.  Further,  owing  to  their 
separation  from  the  banks  and  to  the  exigencies  of  the  times, 
the  revenue  laws  had  to  be  changed;  and  owing  to  the  fact 
that  Illinois  had  become  entitled  after  the  census  of  1840  to 
seven  Representatives,  the  State  had  also  to  be  laid  out  into 
new  districts,  —  always  a  difficult  and  very  delicate  task,  since 
every  prominent  politician  wanted  his  district  so  shaped  as 
to  make  his  election  to  Congress  a  certainty.  Besides,  there 
was  all  the  customary  legislation  to  attend  to. 

The  sessions  began  at  nine  in  the  morning,  with  one  hour 
for  dinner ;  the  afternoon  sessions  were  from  one  to  six.  From 
eight  to  midnight  the  principal  committees  had  to  work. 
There  were  no  holidays  except  Christmas  and  New  Year's. 
Towards  the  end  we  had  even  night  sessions.  This  was  quite 
different  from  the  way  Legislatures  work  now.  I  had  been 
placed  on  two  very  important  committees,  the  Committee  on 
Finance  and  the  Committee  on  Judiciary.  In  addition,  I  was 
made  chairman  of  some  two  or  three  special  committees  on 
investigation,  requiring  the  examination  of  witnesses  and 
papers  and  the  making  of  reports. 

The  Senate  contained  forty  members,  was  weak  and 
hardly  counted  for  anything  in  this  Legislature.  The  House, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  in  number,  was  however,  as  was 
admitted  by  everybody,  unusually  strong.  The  Whig  party 
had  elected  some  of  their  most  eminent  men.  Judge  Stephen 
T.  Logan  was  considered  the  acutest  and  ablest  lawyer  in 
Springfield  and  the  central  portion  of  the  State.  He  was  a 
Kentuckian  of  the  well-known  Logan  family,  hardly  of  me- 
dium size,  and  quite  thin,  but  wiry.  Thick,  reddish  curling 
hair  covered  his  rather  small  head.  He  had  the  white  com- 
plexion usual  to  redhaired  people,  and  his  features  were 
sharply  cut.  There  was  nothing  particularly  brilliant  about 
his  gray  eyes.  As  to  his  outward  appearance,  it  might  be 
said  that  he  was  the  most  slovenly  man,  not  only  in  the  Legis- 
lature, but  in  the  city  of  Springfield.  Though  of  ample 
means,  occupying  a  very  fine  residence  surrounded  by  a  large 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  479 

and  beautiful  park,  his  clothes  were  shabby.  I  have  seen  him 
in  the  Legislature,  in  court  and  out  of  court,  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death  only  a  few  years  ago,  and  I  never  saw  him  wear  a 
necktie.  He  wore  an  old  fur  cap  hi  winter  and  a  fifty-cent 
straw  hat  in  summer,  baggy  trousers,  and  a  coat  to  match. 
Thick,  coarse,  brogan  shoes  covered  his  feet;  but  nobody 
noticed  all  this.  He  was  undoubtedly  an  honest  man;  and, 
though  an  astute  lawyer,  his  disposition  was  kind  and  genial. 
At  times,  the  Irish  in  his  blood  made  him  lose  control  of  his 
temper.  While  he  enjoyed  the  greatest  regard  in  the  House 
as  a  man,  and  more  particularly  as  a  lawyer,  he  could  hardly 
be  called  the  leader  of  his  party.  He  was  not  enough  of  a 
politician,  not  positive  enough,  and  created  no  enthusiasm. 

A  perfect  contrast  to  him,  as  far  as  outward  appearance 
was  concerned,  was  a  distinguished  lawyer  from  Quincy, 
Orville  H.  Browning.  He  was  of  an  imposing  stature,  a  really 
handsome  man,  with  speaking  darkish  eyes,  and  in  dress  a 
most  exquisite  dandy.  He  always  wore  a  dress-coat  of  pecu- 
liar cut,  —  Prince  Albert  fashion,  —  with  an  outside  pocket, 
from  which  the  ends  of  a  white  or  light  yellow  pocket  hand- 
kerchief dangled  out.  What  made  him  particularly  conspicu- 
ous was  his  ruffled  shirt  and  large  cuffs,  then  hardly  ever  seen. 
He  was  not  only  a  good  debater,  but  at  times  could  rise  to 
oratory.  He  was  somewhat  jealous  of  Logan,  and  evidently 
sought  to  be  the  leader  of  the  Whigs.  Browning  afterwards 
became  a  prominent  member  of  the  Republican  party,  was 
appointed  by  Governor  Yates  a  Senator  of  the  United  States, 
and  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under  President  Andrew  John- 
son. I  came  into  very  pleasant  relations  with  him,  but  I 
should  have  liked  him  better  if  he  had  been  a  little  less  con- 
scious of  his  own  superiority. 

Perhaps  the  best  debater  and  the  best  politician  on  the 
Whig  side  was  Mr.  Jonas  of  Quincy.  Jonas  was  of  Jewish 
extraction,  slender  figure,  brilliant  dark  eyes,  an  aquiline  nose, 
black  hair  and  very  good  voice.  If  he  was  not  a  lawyer  he 
ought  to  have  been  one.  His  quickness  of  perception,  his  read- 


480  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

iness  of  speech,  his  plausibility  made  him  a  very  formidable 
opponent.  He  in  later  years  moved  to  Louisiana,  and  Jonas, 
the  present  Senator  from  that  State,  is  his  son.  There  were 
some  other  capable  Whigs  in  the  House,  amongst  others  Jesse 
K.  Dubois,  General  Pickering  and  Richard  Yates  of  Morgan 
County,  the  youngest  member  of  the  house  and  the  best-look- 
ing. Yates  had  a  tall  graceful  figure,  a  very  full  round  face, 
ruddy  complexion,  a  fine  mouth  and  well-rounded  chin,  and 
his  eyes  were  deep  blue  and  large;  curly  blond  hair  crowned 
his  head  in  profusion.  Without  profound  legal  knowledge, 
he  had  gained  the  reputation  of  being  a  successful  advocate. 
His  eloquence  was  of  an  ornamental  order,  often  florid;  but 
there  was  a  sincerity  about  him  and  an  enthusiasm  which  was 
very  attractive.  He  as  well  as  Browning  and  Logan  were  my 
colleagues  on  the  Judiciary  Committee. 

The  Democrats  had  also  very  strong  men  in  the  House. 
Doctor  Murphy  of  Lake  County,  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Banks  and  Corporations,  could  well  have  been  the  leader 
of  his  party  by  reason  of  his  great  knowledge  and  experience 
in  financial  matters,  his  clear-headedness  and  his  debating 
ability ;  he  carried  great  weight  in  the  assembly,  even  with  the 
opposite  party.  But  he  did  not  strive  to  lead,  and  was  not 
positive  or  rather  aggressive  enough  for  a  commander  of 
forces.  John  A.  McClernand  of  Shawneetown,  on  the  con- 
trary, possessed  the  qualities  of  a  party  leader  in  a  high 
degree.  Tall  and  wiry,  with  a  long  face  and  a  southern  Illi- 
nois complexion,  dark  sparkling  eyes  and  an  executive  nose, 
he  was  a  lawyer  of  long  practice  and  good  parliamentarian, 
having  been  before  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  He  was  bold 
in  his  assertions,  denunciatory  of  his  opponents,  perfectly  fear- 
less, an  experienced  public  speaker,  never  trying  to  persuade 
but  to  subdue.  His  unbounded  ambition,  his  untiring  energy, 
secured  him  a  good  measure  of  success.  He  was  repeatedly 
elected  to  Congress  by  the  Democrats,  entered  the  Union 
Army,  was  made  a  brigadier-general,  and  after  Donaldson 
and  Shiloh,  was  promoted  to  major-general.  He  commanded 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  481 

at  the  taking  of  Arkansas  Post,  distinguished  himself  at  the 
unsuccessful  storming  of  Vicksburg,  but  got  into  a  difficulty 
with  General  Grant  on  account  of  issuing  an  imprudent  order 
of  the  day,  wherein  he  exaggerated  the  deeds  of  his  division 
and  cast  a  slur  on  other  troops.  He  was  relieved  from  his 
command  and  became  a  private  citizen  again.  He  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Democratic  Convention  in  St.  Louis  in  1876,  which 
nominated  Tilden.  He  was  one  of  my  earliest  friends. 

Isaac  N.  Arnold  of  Chicago  was  also  a  leading  Democrat, 
a  good  lawyer,  a  precise  and  logical  speaker,  of  excellent  gen- 
eral information,  but  most  too  refined  and  too  much  of  a  New 
England  man  to  have  great  influence  with  a  body  of  which  by 
far  the  greatest  part  were  natives  of  the  Southern  States  or  of 
southern  Illinois.  Julius  Manning  of  Peoria,  for  legal  knowl- 
edge, clear  and  forcible  statement  of  facts  and  law,  was  per- 
haps superior  to  all  others;  and,  in  a  few  years,  he  became 
reputed  as  one  of  the  greatest  lawyers  in  his  State.  Almeron 
Wheat  of  Quincy,  though  a  young  man,  was  also  a  most  able 
lawyer,  a  fine  debater,  and  became  a  very  active  and  influential 
member.  Arnold,  Manning  and  Wheat  were  also  members  of 
the  Judiciary  Committee,  of  which  Orlando  B.  Ficklin  was 
chairman,  not  on  account  of  his  legal  knowledge,  which  was 
not  extraordinary,  but  by  virtue  of  having  been  a  member  of 
the  Legislature  before.  He  was  popular  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  State,  and  was  sent  to  Congress  several  times  by  the  Demo- 
crats. 

I  did  not  speak  often,  and  never  on  subjects  that  I  did 
not  believe  I  understood  well.  I  spoke  briefly  with  one  excep- 
tion, and  so  it  happened  that  I  had  what  is  called  the  ear  of 
the  House.  On  the  question  of  the  power  of  the  Legislature  to 
repeal  bank  charters  I  spoke  for  nearly  two  hours.  The  length 
of  this  address  was  partly  due  to  an  excited  interruption  by 
Judge  Logan  with  reference  to  the  parliamentary  history  of 
the  celebrated  bill  to  alter  and  remodel  the  charter  of  the  East 
India  Company.  I  took  occasion  to  correct  his  statement  by 
giving  a  pretty  full  history  of  that  question  in  the  English 


482  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Parliament  under  both  the  minsitry  of  Fox  and  that  of  Pitt. 
As  the  gentleman  had  become  rusty  in  his  history,  I  had  an 
easy  victory.  At  any  rate  my  view  was  adopted  by  the  Legis- 
lature in  passing  laws  respecting  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of 
Illinois,  —  the  Shawneetown  Bank  and  also  that  of  the  Cairo 
Bank.  This  speech  was  fully  reported,  —  then  rarely  done,  — 
and  published  in  most  of  the  Democratic  papers  in  the  State. 
I  also  spoke  in  favor  of  the  Canal  Bill;  John  A.  McClernand 
and  I,  I  believe,  being  the  only  members  from  southern  Illi- 
nois voting  for  it. 

I  strenuously  opposed  what  was  called  the  Relief  Law, 
which  provided  that  when  an  execution  was  levied  on  a  piece 
of  property,  the  property  should  be  appraised  by  three  house- 
holders at  its  value  in  ordinary  times,  and  that  no  such  prop- 
erty should  be  sold  for  less  than  two-thirds  of  this  value.  My 
objection  was  that  the  law  related  back  to  contracts  made 
before  its  passage,  and  I  had  moved  to  insert  the  word  ' '  here- 
after," so  that  it  would  only  operate  on  contracts  made  after 
the  passage  of  the  law.  I  took  the  ground  that  the  law  was 
unjust  in  itself,  for  at  the  time  previous  contracts  were 
entered  into  no  such  law  existed,  and  hence  no  credit  would 
have  been  given  to  the  debtor  if  the  creditor  had  known  that 
he  must  pay  a  higher  price  than  the  property  under  execution 
was  really  worth  in  order  to  satisfy  the  debt.  I  also  insisted 
that  the  law  was  unconstitutional,  as  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  forbade  the  States  to  pass  laws  impairing  the 
obligation  of  contracts.  But  the  law  passed  with  a  large 
majority,  for  the  law  was  supposed  to  be  popular,  a  good  many 
voting  for  it  under  that  impression  who  were  of  the  opinion 
that  the  law  was  a  bad  one.  A  test  case  soon  afterwards 
came  up  before  our  Supreme  Court,  which  sustained  the  law, 
no  doubt  somewhat  actuated  by  its  supposed  popularity.  But 
when  it  came  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
it  was  there  declared  unconstitutional  and  declared  to  be  null 
and  void.  That  was  the  end  of  this  law,  and  its  defeat  gave 
me  at  least  a  professional  satisfaction.  In  both  cases  I  had 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  483 

taken  the  side  which  was  unpopular  in  the  middle  and  south 
of  the  State,  but  very  popular  in  the  north,  so  that  I  made  a 
great  many  influential  and  lasting  friends  in  that  region, 
which  soon  became  more  populous  and  therefore  more  influ- 
ential than  the  lower  parts  of  the  State. 

A  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW 

I  must  mention  another  remarkable  incident  in  my  legis- 
lative career.  The  Senate  without  debate  had  passed  a  bill 
to  prohibit  the  ingress  of  negroes  into  the  State  of  Illinois. 
It  provided  that  if  any  negro  was  found  in  the  State  who 
could  not  prove  his  freedom  by  legal  papers,  he  should  be 
taken  up  by  any  sheriff  or  constable,  brought  before  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  who  should,  on  failure  of  proof  of  freedom, 
commit  him  to  the  penitentiary,  where  he  was  to  be  confined 
at  hard  labor  for  one  year  and  then  to  be  taken  out  of  the 
State.  Nobody  in  the  House  seemed  to  have  taken  any  notice 
of  the  passage  of  this  act,  and,  on  a  suspension  of  the  rules,  it 
was  read  a  second  time  by  its  title  merely.  It  was  then  moved 
to  read  it  a  third  time,  which  amounted  to  its  passage.  Acci- 
dentally, I  had  listened  to  the  first  reading.  Now  there  were 
members  in  the  House  that  were  thoroughly  anti-slavery,  such 
as  Browning,  Arnold,  Yates,  and  others  from  the  north,  but 
they  had  remained  silent.  Now  if  I  had  attacked  the  law 
directly,  I  believe  it  would  have  passed.  All  the  southern 
members,  and  I  believe  they  were  nearly  a  majority,  would 
have  voted  for  it ;  for  that  part  of  the  State  was  really  much 
overrun  by  negroes  from  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  and  they 
were,  no  doubt,  a  very  annoying  and  a  very  troublesome  set. 
So  I  got  up  and  stated  that  I  believed  the  law  was  not  very 
well  understood,  and  that  it  contained  some  features  which  I 
thought  were  unusual;  I  would  therefore  move,  as  was  the 
case  with  all  general  laws,  to  refer  the  bill  to  a  committee, 
and,  as  it  was  a  criminal  law,  to  the  Committee  on  Judiciary. 
As  this  course  was  in  fact  the  regular  one,  it  relieved  the 
opponents  of  the  bill  of  their  embarrassment  in  voting  directly 


484 

against  it.  The  friends  of  the  bill  at  once  saw  through  my 
move.  McClernand  rose,  said  the  bill  had  been  well  consid- 
ered by  the  Senate,  it  was  easily  understood,  and  was  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  prevent  southern  Illinois  from  being 
overrun  with  a  most  dangerous  population.  He  was  aston- 
ished that  his  friend  from  St.  Glair  should  try  to  defeat  the 
passage  of  this  bill,  for  that  committee,  of  which  his  friend 
was  a  member,  would  pocket  the  bill,  and  it  would  never  see 
daylight  again.  He  was  deeply  sorry  that  I  should  seem 
to  favor  the  nefarious  and  infamous  sect  of  Abolitionists. 
But  he  did  not  put  me  down.  I  replied  that  the  gentleman 
was  mistaken ;  I  was  not  in  favor  of  the  Abolitionists,  but  was 
simply  a  lawyer  whose  duty  it  was  when  in  the  Legislature  to 
examine  any  bill  of  a  general  character,  particularly  if  it 
involved  the  liberty  of  any  man,  black  or  white.  The  vote 
was  taken  on  my  motion  to  refer,  and  carried,  as  this  was 
really  the  only  proper  and  legitimate  way.  McClernand  was 
quite  right.  The  bill  never  did  see  daylight.  I  think  it  was 
this  action  of  mine,  which  made  Yates,  who  was  then  an  Abo- 
litionist, though  not  of  the  radical  wing,  so  devoted  to  me  for 
all  time.  When  the  bill  came  before  the  committee  he  could 
hardly  find  words  enough  to  express  his  satisfaction  with  the 
course  I  had  taken. 

Early  in  the  session  we  elected  a  United  States  Senator 
in  place  of  Judge  Young,  whose  term  was  expiring.  Judge 
Breese,  Judge  Douglas,  McClernand  and  Young  were  candi- 
dates. It  was  a  close  contest,  but  after  a  great  number  of 
ballots  in  the  Democratic  caucus,  about  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  Breese  was  nominated  over  Douglas  by  one  vote, 
and  of  course  elected  by  the  Legislature.  My  constituents  in 
St.  Glair  and  all  the  adjoining  counties  being  for  Breese,  I 
supported  him  strongly,  and  he  thought  and  said  at  the  time 
he  owed  his  election  to  my  strenous  efforts. 

JOSEPH   SMITH 

During  the  session,  quite  an  interesting  scene  was  wit- 
nessed. The  Governor  of  Missouri  had  sent  a  requisition  to 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  485 

Governor  Ford  for  the  extradition  of  Joseph  Smith  the 
Mormon  prophet,  charged  with  having  been  a  participant  in 
an  attempt  to  assassinate  the  Governor  of  Missouri.  Gover- 
nor Ford  had  him  arrested,  and  Smith  applied  to  Judge  Pope, 
then  United  States  district  judge,  for  a  discharge  from  arrest 
under  the  ' '  Habeas  Corpus  Act. ' '  At  the  trial  the  court-room 
was  crowded.  On  the  platform  where  the  judge  sat,  a  crowd 
of  ladies  had  been  admitted,  all  anxious  to  see  the  man  of  a 
plurality  of  wives.  Smith  was  sitting  in  front  of  the  judge 
with  his  lawyers,  one  of  whom  was  the  eminent  counsel  from 
Chicago,  Justin  Butterfield,  who  opened  the  case  by  humor- 
ously remarking  tyiat  he  found  himself  in  a  somewhat  new 
position.  Here  on  his  right  was  the  prophet,  to  be  tried  by 
the  pope,  surrounded  by  a  chorus  of  angels. 

Smith  was  a  middle-aged,  good-looking  man,  but  of  quite 
ordinary  features.  There  was  nothing  in  his  face  to  indicate 
a  superior  mind  or  anything  like  enthusiasm.  He  looked 
like  a  shrewd  business  man.  A  modern  prophet,  indeed! 
The  arguments  were  very  dry,  as  only  small  technical  objec- 
tions were  made  to  the  form  of  the  requisition,  which,  how- 
ever, the  court  sustained,  and  Smith  was  set  at  liberty  to  find 
his  death,  a  few  years  later,  by  a  mob  while  he  was  in  jail  at 
Carthage,  Hancock  County.  Smith  had  a  brother  in  the 
lower  house  of  the  Legislature,  who  was  a  mere  nullity. 

POLITICAL  AND  PERSONAL 

We  adjourned  on  the  fourth  of  March,  1843,  having 
been  constantly  in  session  for  three  months,  and  very  few 
members  from  the  neighboring  counties  having  spent  Sundays 
at  home.  Sophie  and  I  kept  up  a  lively  correspondence.  I 
learned  a  good  deal,  made  interesting  acquaintances,  and 
secured  a  number  of  warm  friends,  who  have  remained  such 
through  life. 

Immediately  after  the  session  was  over,  Judge  Breese, 
now  United  States  Senator,  offered  to  go  into  partnership  with 
me.  I  hesitated  for  some  time,  knowing  that  a  great  part  of 


486  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  time  he  would  have  to  be  in  Washington,  and  that  the  bur- 
den of  the  business  would  fall  upon  me.  But  he  was  so  anx- 
ious about  it  that  I  finally  consented,  and  the  result  showed 
what  I  had  expected.  I  enjoyed  home  life  very  much,  but 
still  I  could  not  help  becoming  mixed  up  in  politics.  A  mem- 
ber of  Congress  for  the  newly  established  district  was  to  be 
elected  in  August.  Shields  had  resigned  the  office  of  Auditor 
and  was  a  candidate;  so  were  Governor  Reynolds  and  Lyman 
Trumbull.  At  the  convention  held  in  Kaskaskia  to  nominate 
candidates,  Shields  had  a  clear  majority  of  all  the  delegates  in 
his  favor,  but  owing  to  some  sort  of  legerdemain  he  lost  the 
nomination.  The  delegation  from  Madison  County  had  been 
persuaded  by  Robert  Smith,  a  smart  business  man  and  lead- 
ing politician  of  that  county,  to  give  him  on  the  first  ballot 
a  merely  complimentary  vote  while  in  reality  they  were  all 
for  Shields.  As  there  were  two  other  candidates,  it  was 
expected,  of  course,  that  a  nomination  could  not  be  made  on 
the  first  ballot.  But  after  the  Madison  complimentary  vote 
had  been  given,  all  the  friends  of  Reynolds  and  Trumbull  also 
voted  for  Smith,  being  so  instructed  on  the  spur  of  the  moment 
by  Messrs.  Trumbull  and  Reynolds,  whose  main  object  was 
to  beat  Shields,  which  gave  Smith,  who  really  was  not  consid- 
ered a  candidate  at  all,  but  one  county  having  instructed  for 
him,  a  majority.  Of  course,  Shields  and  his  friends  were  very 
angry  at  this  trick.  But  Smith  being  a  respectable  man,  of 
fair-speaking  talents,  and  a  good  Democrat,  Shields  declared 
at  once  that  he  would  cheerfully  support  the  nominee  because 
he  was  not  a  party  to  the  fraud. 

I  may  here  mention  a  curious  fact,  which  would  almost 
make  one  believe  in  a  retributive  Nemesis.  When  the  elec- 
tion came  around  again  two  years  afterwards,  Robert  Smith 
was  nominated  at  the  Democratic  congressional  convention  as 
its  candidate.  Governor  Reynolds,  asserting  that  Robert  Smith 
had  promised  him  at  the  Kaskaskia  convention  that  he  would 
not  run  again,  but  would  leave  the  field  clear  to  him,  ran  as 
an  independent  candidate,  getting  the  Whig  vote,  but  was 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  487 

badly  beaten.  In  1846,  Mr.  Trumbull  succeeded  in  getting 
the  Democratic  nomination  for  Congress,  but  Smith  claiming 
that  the  convention  had  been  illegally  packed,  ran  as  an  inde- 
pendent candidate,  and  to  the  general  surprise  beat  Trum- 
bull. Not  long  afterwards,  a  vacancy  happening  on  the 
supreme  bench,  Governor  Ford  appointed  Shields  one  of  the 
judges,  and  the  Legislature  of  1844  elected  him  to  the  office. 
I  received  two  letters  from  my  friend  Ernest  Thilenius, 
the  first  notifying  me  of  his  arrival  with  his  young  wife  and 
child  at  Philadelphia,  and  that  he  intended  to  look  around  for 
a  farm  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  second,  received  some  weeks 
later  from  Salem,  Indiana,  saying  that  he  had  bought  there  a 
fine  farm  with  a  good  dwelling  house  and  a  handsome  park, 
and  giving  me  a  most  glowing  description  of  his  residence 
and  surroundings,  and  inviting  me  to  visit  him  and  spend  the 
fall  season  with  him.  But  he  seems  to  have  been  deceived 
both  as  to  the  healthiness  and  the  pecuniary  value  of  the  place, 
for  a  year  or  so  afterwards  he  sold  his  place,  and  with  deep 
and  bitter  disappointment,  as  he  wrote  me,  went  back  to  Ger- 
many. 

PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OP  1844 

The  year  1844  was  again  a  stormy  year  politically,  as  a 
President  was  to  be  elected.  James  K.  Polk  was  the  Demo- 
cratic, and  Henry  Clay  the  Whig  candidate.  Of  course,  we 
had  numerous  political  meetings  and  one  very  big  mass  meet- 
ing in  Belleville,  which  was  particularly  memorable,  as  the 
large  and  substantial  platform  on  which  the  speakers,  the 
reception  committee  and  many  prominent  politicians  stood, 
broke  down  while  Senator  Breese  was  addressing  the  people. 
Nobody,  however,  was  much  hurt.  Breese  bruised  his  face, 
but  could  go  on  speaking.  It  was  suspected  by  many  that  a 
certain  vicious  Whig  had  tampered  with  the  support  of  the 
platform,  but  no  proof  could  be  made  against  him.  Polk  was, 
of  course,  elected.  Van  Buren  would  have  been  nominated, 
but  he  had,  like  Clay,  expressed  himself  as  against  the  imme- 
diate annexation  of  the  State  of  Texas,  which  was  then  in  open 


MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

war  with  Mexico,  asserting  that  such  a  step  would  at  once 
involve  us  in  a  war  with  Mexico.  The  South  and  West  were 
so  much  in  favor  of  Texas  being  united  to  the  United  States, 
that  Van  Buren  lost  the  nomination.  Clay  had,  however, 
taken  the  same  ground  with  Van  Buren,  which  probably  lost 
him  a  good  many  Southern  Whig  votes  in  the  election.  The 
Democratic  battle-cry  in  the  election  was  "Polk,  Dallas,  and 
Texas."  I,  myself,  was  rather  of  Van  Buren 's  opinion,  and 
furthermore  dreaded  the  annexation  of  Texas,  as  it  had  con- 
stituted itself  a  slaveholding  State,  and  would  therefore 
increase  the  slave  territory.  But  a  glance  at  the  map  was 
enough  to  convince  one  that  sooner  or  later  the  United  States 
must  extend  to  the  Rio  Grande  as  its  natural  boundary,  and 
that  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  only  a  question  of  time. 

It  was  in  this  election  that  the  Native  American  party 
showed  its  true  colors.  In  Philadelphia,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
disturbance  taking  place  between  some  Irishmen  and  a  politi- 
cal procession,  a  riot  of  enormous  proportions  was  started  by 
the  Natives.  Every  Irishman  found  in  the  streets  was 
assaulted  and  hunted  down.  A  Catholic  church  and  other 
institutions  of  that  denomination  were  burned  down.  The 
Democratic  press  denounced  the  outrage;  the  Whig  press 
sought  to  extenuate  it;  the  Native  American  press,  charging 
the  Irish  with  the  first  aggression,  justified  it.  At  a  later 
period  some  Germans  and  Irish  and  leading  Democrats  were 
attacked  at  the  polls  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  were  beaten,  and 
a  great  many  had  to  cross  the  river  to  save  their  lives. 

Yet  the  Whig  party  in  New  York,  as  well  as  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  order  to  carry  Clay,  dropped  their  own  candidates 
for  Congress,  and  declared  for  the  Native  American  candi- 
dates, with  the  understanding  that  the  Native  party  should 
vote  for  Clay  at  the  election  in  November.  These  outrages 
and  bargains  recoiled  on  the  Whig  party  at  the  November  elec- 
tion, and  Polk  received  a  large  majority  of  the  electoral  and 
also  the  popular  vote,  for  nearly  all  the  voters  of  foreign  birth 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  489 

gave  their  votes  against  Henry  Clay,  and  particularly  all 
Catholics,  native  and  foreign. 

Of  all  the  many  calls  I  received  to  speak  in  districts  where 
there  were  large  German  settlements,  I  could  fill  only  a  few. 
At  Quincy  I  had  a  most  pleasant  time.  There  I  met  Douglas, 
who  was  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  a  newly  made  and 
extremely  doubtful  district.  He  carried  it,  however;  and 
Quincy  and  Adams  Counties  went  strongly  for  him.  The 
"  Freiheitsbote, "  published  by  me  in  1840,  had  been  a  cam- 
paign paper  only.  But  Theodore  Engelmann  started  the  first 
permanent  Democratic  paper,  —  or  at  least  the  first  intended 
to  be  permanent,  —  in  1844.  It  was,  of  course,  circulated  all 
over  the  State  and  did  good  service.  William  C.  Kinney  edited 
an  English  Democratic  paper,  the  "St.  Clair  Banner."  Be- 
tween attending  to  my  law  business,  making  stump  speeches  and 
writing  most  of  the  articles  in  both  of  these  papers,  I  had  quite 
a  busy  time.  Douglas,  in  return  for  my  visit,  came  down  to 
Belleville  and  made  one  of  his  most  telling  speeches,  just  before 
the  Presidential  election  in  November. 

Adolph  Engelmann,  having  completed  his  course  at  the 
Belleville  schools,  had  been  for  some  time  in  my  office  reading 
law ;  but  he  went  over  to  St.  Louis  pursuing  his  studies  in  the 
office  of  Messrs.  Field  and  Leslie,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
law  firms  of  that  time.  In  December  I  went  to  Springfield  to 
attend  the  Supreme  Court.  William  H.  Bissell  was  elected 
States  Attorney  for  our  circuit.  In  the  election  of  this  year 
he  took  an  active  part,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  best 
political  speakers  in  the  State. 

In  the  election  of  1844  for  Legislature,  Don  Morrison  suc- 
ceeded in  beating  one  of  the  Democratic  members,  while  the 
rest  of  the  Democratic  ticket  was  elected.  Morrison,  though 
born  and  educated  as  an  aristocrat  and  living  as  such  in  his 
own  home,  had  a  happy  faculty  of  disguising  his  true  senti- 
ments. He  associated  on  equal  terms  with  high  and  low,  and 
had  a  knack  of  assimilating  himself  to  people  of  different 
nationalities.  He  would  drink  beer  and  wine  and  play  cards 


490  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

with  the  Germans  in  their  saloons,  call  them  by  their  Chris- 
tian names,  talk  Democracy  with  the  Democrats  and  Whig 
with  the  Whigs.  He  had  married  a  beautiful  daughter  of 
Governor  Carlin.  She  had  been  educated  at  the  convent  in 
Kaskaskia  and  had  Catholic  tendencies,  of  which  fact  Don 
made  very  good  use  with  the  Catholic  priests.  In  fact,  Don 
was  really  of  a  liberal  mind,  did  not  much  care  about  party 
principles,  and  being  a  fine  speaker  and  of  a  social  character, 
shrewd  and  tricky  when  occasion  required  it,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  formidable  demagogues  in  the  State.  He  succeeded 
in  getting  a  good  many  German  votes;  still,  he  would  have 
been  beaten,  had  not  four  Democrats  run  for  the  Legislature 
instead  of  three.  So  the  Democratic  vote  was  divided,  and 
Don  won  by  a  small  majority  over  one  of  the  Democratic  can- 
didates. 

Letters  from  my  family  in  Frankfort  seemed  to  put  all 
hope  of  my  mother  and  sister  coming  over  out  of  the  question, 
owing  to  the  almost  continual  sickness  of  one  or  the  other. 
They  had  passed  some  time  at  Speyer  with  the  Hilgards,  and 
also  later  at  Klosterhof,  one  of  Mr.  Hilgard's  estates,  near 
Kirchheim-Bolanden. 

While  I  was  attending  the  Supreme  Court  in  Springfield, 
Gustave  Adolph  was  born  on  the  17th  of  January,  1845,  some- 
what before  the  time  expected.  He  was  a  handsome  little  boy, 
and  made  us  most  happy. 

APPOINTED  TO   THE   SUPREME   COURT 

And  now  politics  again  claimed  my  attention.  Shields, 
who  had  been  on  the  supreme  bench  one  year,  grew  tired  of  it, 
became  an  applicant  for  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office,  was  appointed  by  President  Polk  in  March,  and  re- 
signed his  office  as  judge.  Now,  Governor  Ford  wanted  to 
appoint  me  in  his  place.  I  hesitated  long  before  accepting 
the  offer.  In  a  pecuniary  point  of  view  it  was  no  advantage, 
my  practice  being  worth  more  than  the  salary,  and,  besides, 
the  appointment  was  only  a  temporary  one,  for  the  next  Legis- 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  491 

lature,  1845-1846,  had  to  elect  the  Supreme  Judge.  But  even 
if  I  failed  to  be  elected  permanently,  it  would  help  me  much 
in  my  practice  to  have  been  judge.  Besides  all  my  political 
friends,  Governor  Ford,  Shields,  Senators  Breese  and  Semple 
pressed  me  very  much  to  take  the  office.  There  was  at  that 
time  much  patronage  connected  with  it.  The  judge  could 
remove  the  clerks  and  masters-in-chancery  at  his  pleasure 
and  appoint  others  in  all  the  twelve  counties  in  his  circuit. 
Some  of  these  offices  were  more  lucrative  than  the  judge's 
office  itself.  What  determined  me  most  was  the  unanimous 
wish  of  my  German  friends  in  Illinois  and  Missouri  to  see 
me  on  the  supreme  bench.  They  argued  that  such  a  thing 
as  having  a  German  in  such  a  place  had  never  before  hap- 
pened, and  that  it  would  give  the  German  element  a  certain 
prestige  particularly  desirable  in  these  Know-Nothing  times. 

On  the  third  of  April  I  received  my  commission  and 
immediately  went  on  the  circuit  to  hold  court.  I  soon  had  to 
taste  some  of  the  bitternesses  of  my  office.  Though  all  the 
offices  in  the  circuit  under  my  control  were  filled  with  Demo- 
crats, I  received  numerous  applications  supported  by  recom- 
mendations of  prominent  politicians  for  new  appointments  on 
the  absurd  principle  of  rotation  in  office,  to  which  both  of  the 
political  parties  were  wedded.  I  at  once  let  it  be  known  that 
I  would  make  no  removals  except  in  cases  where  the  holders 
of  the  office  were  to  my  knowledge  incompetent.  I  may  here 
add  that  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature  I  was  elected 
by  that  body  without  any  opposition  from  Democrats.  The 
"Whigs  being  in  the  minority,  some  of  them!  voted  pro  forma 
for  a  Whig  lawyer. 

Shields  was  delighted  with  his  new  place  at  Washington ; 
gave  his  views  about  Polk  and  the  new  cabinet.  He  only 
regretted  that  he  was  not  a  member  of  it.  He  would  rush 
things  if  he  were.  What  in  the  old  country  would  be  rash- 
ness, was,  in  this  new  country,  he  wrote,  sobriety  and  sanity. 
War  with  Mexico  was  certain.  He  had  already  a  plan  what 
to  do  with  Mexico.  In  November,  1845,  he  wrote  me : 


492  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

"Some  time  ago  in  one  of  your  letters  you  very  face- 
tiously intimated  that  you  would  like  to  know  what  old  system 
I  intended  breaking  down,  and  what  new  one  I  intended 
building  up.  You  imagined  that  I  must  be  engaged  in  some 
such  enterprise.  Well,  I  have  just  time  to  tell  you  that  I  have 
prepared  a  report  which  I  am  inclined  to  think  will  accomplish 
two  objects,  one  the  introduction  of  a  graduation  system  of 
the  price  of  public  land,  on  very  liberal  terms,  and  the  other 
the  blowing  up  of  the  whole  mineral  system  of  the  country. 
My  report  is  a  flaming  one,  and  will  be  like  throwing  a  hand- 
grenade  into  the  halls  of  Congress;  but  you  know  I  never  do 
anything  by  halves." 

Theodore  Engelmann  had  been  appointed  circuit  clerk  by 
Shields  before  he  resigned,  and  William  C.  Kinney,  master  in 
chancery ;  and,  as  before  remarked,  Theodore  had  got  married. 
Adolph,  having  completed  his  law  studies  in  St.  Louis,  had 
gone  to  Quincy,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  there. 
My  position  as  judge  relieved  me  from  taking  any  active  share 
in  politics,  and  this  enabled  me  to  pass  my  summer  vacation 
with  my  family  most  pleasantly,  having  no  business  or  other 
cares  on  my  mind.  We  had  found,  however,  that  beautiful 
as  was  the  place  where  we  resided,  it  was  too  near  the  creek  to 
be  healthy.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  and  early  summer  the 
valley  of  the  creek  for  a  mile  or  so  up  and  down  was  regularly 
overflowed,  and  in  the  thick  timber  it  took  a  long  time  to  dry 
up.  Frequent  fevers  in  our  family  was  the  consequence,  and 
we  concluded  in  1846  to  move  to  our  old  residence  on  Illinois 
Street,  where  we  found  at  once  much  relief  from  this  miserable 
fever-and-ague  which  was  so  common  in  the  early  days  in  this 
part  of  Illinois. 

EUROPEAN  AFFAIRS 

The  annexation  of  Texas  had  agitated  the  United  States 
greatly  during  the  past  year,  and  Europe  seemed  to  be  also 
much  disturbed.  The  opposition  to  Louis  Philippe,  since  the 
fatal  accident  that  befell  his  popular  son,  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
had  been  very  strong.  Several  attempts  at  the  King's  life  had 
been  made.  The  Republican  party  was  increasing  and  grow- 
ing bolder  every  day,  and  either  a  change  of  policy  or  another 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  493 

revolution  was  predicted  by  many.  Still  greater  was  the 
commotion  in  Germany.  The  general  expectation  that  the 
new  King  of  Prussia,  Frederick  William  IV,  would  pursue  a 
more  liberal  course  than  his  father,  that  he  would  make  him- 
self more  independent  of  Metternich's  reactionary  policy,  had 
proved  elusive.  While  the  King  now  and  then  did  take  steps 
in  the  right  direction,  he  would  within  a  very  short  time  pur- 
sue a  contrary  course,  and  so  left  everything  to  shift  along  as 
before.  He  was  full  of  various  talents,  a  gifted  speaker,  and 
exceedingly  fond  of  hearing  himself.  In  the  excitement  of  his 
talking  he  committed  himself  at  one  time  to  very  liberal  prin- 
ciples, at  another  to  the  most  ridiculously  reactionary  ones. 
Mediaeval  romanticism  and  modern  pietism  were  singularly 
mixed  in  his  character.  In  the  constitutional  States,  where 
the  press  was  free  in  a  measure,  he  was  very  soon  sharply 
attacked,  and  what  hurt  him  most,  ridiculed.  In  Prussia  a 
number  of  political  pamphlets  appeared,  and  even  some  of 
the  journals  of  the  kingdom  loudly  demanded  fulfilment  of 
the  promises  made  when  the  people  were  called  upon  to  save 
Prussia  from  foreign  domination  in  the  War  of  Liberation  and 
since  often  repeated  by  the  King's  father. 

A  new  spirit  seemed  to  pervade  the  German  people.  A 
religious  movement,  which  at  first  promised  to  be  of  enormous 
influence,  added  to  the  general  upheaval  of  the  old  regime. 
Excessive  demonstrations  of  the  Ultramontane  Catholic  clergy 
by  religious  festivals,  reviving  antiquated  superstitions,  the 
exposition  of  holy  bones  and  of  the  clothes  of  Christ  and  the 
saints,  attracting  extraordinary  crowds,  had  excited  opposi- 
tion in  some  priests,  who  positively  denounced  these  proceed- 
ings, and  who  soon  found  thousands  of  followers  in  their  own 
church.  In  many  states  of  Germany  large  religious  communi- 
ties formed  themselves,  and  called  themselves  ' '  German  Catho- 
lics," the  principal  object  of  which  was  to  make  the  German 
Catholics  and  the  priesthood  independent  of  Rome.  They 
received  at  once  a  large,  and  in  some  places  enthusiastic,  sup- 
port from  the  liberal  Protestants,  and  in  fact  from  all  the  Lib- 


494  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

erals,  whether  caring  for  religion  or  not.  It  was  to  be  a  sec- 
ond Reformation ;  and  in  the  abstract  the  making  of  the  Ger- 
man Catholic  Church  independent  of  the  Pope  and  the  Jesuits, 
was  a  most  attractive  idea.  I  mention  these  matters  only 
because  my  own  family,  Protestants  as  they  were,  and  of  the 
rationalistic  type,  took  a  deep  interest  in  this  tendency,  as 
well  as  in  the  new  political  movement.  Charles  was  in  Frank- 
fort one  of  the  most  outspoken  Liberals,  and,  it  might  be  said, 
at  that  time  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  party.  Mother  and 
Pauline  were  quite  enthusiastic  for  the  German  Catholics.  A 
great  many  of  my  friends  in  Germany  naturally  joined  the 
new  church.  My  college  friend,  Edward  Graf,  who  had  the 
gift  of  speech,  traveled  round  as  a  missionary,  and  so  did  the 
priests  Ronge  and  Czersky,  who  had  first  raised  their  voices 
not  only  against  Rome,  but  against  all  dogmas  not  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Evangelists.  My  family  sent  me  a  number  of 
pamphlets  and  newspapers  and  in  their  letters  gave  me  most 
interesting  information.  In  Switzerland  several  commotions 
took  place,  ending  even  in  armed  conflicts  in  some  of  the  Can- 
tons. I  did  not  believe  much  in  the  success  of  the  German 
Catholic  Church ;  yet  I  took  it  as  a  symptom  of  a  near  change 
in  the  political  horizon  of  Europe. 

THE   MEXICAN   WAR 

In  our  own  country  the  Mexican  war-cloud  was  looming 
up.  My  friend  Shields,  then  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land  Office,  and  in  the  confidence  of  the  President,  wrote  me 
early  in  April  and  May  that  there  would  be  war  with  Mexico. 
General  Zachary  Taylor  had  already  been  dispatched  to  the 
frontier  post  of  the  United  States,  Corpus  Christi,  with  a 
small  regular  force  as  a  corps  of  observation.  Receiving 
information  that  a  Mexican  force  had  passed  the  Rio  Grande 
to  invade  Texas,  Taylor  advanced,  and  two  squadrons  of  our 
cavalry,  while  reconnoitering,  were  surprised  by  a  much 
larger  force  of  Mexicans,  and  some  of  them  killed  and  the  rest 
taken  prisoners.  The  report  was  that  Captain  Kane,  the 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  495 

brother-in-law  of  William  C.  Kinney,  was  amongst  the  killed, 
which  of  course  created  great  excitement  in  Belleville,  where 
he  was  well  known.  He  was,  however,  only  wounded  and 
taken  prisoner,  and  within  a  short  time  exchanged.  President 
Polk  considered  this  invasion  of  Texas,  which,  of  course,  was 
still  claimed  by  Mexico  as  one  of  her  provinces,  as  an  act  of 
war,  and  Congress,  by  resolution,  sustained  Mr.  Polk's  views; 
and  a  call  was  made  at  once  on  the  Governors  of  the  different 
States  for  militia  troops  —  40,000  —  to  be  sent  down  to  the 
seat  of  war.  The  Governors  called  for  volunteers  to  serve  for 
twelve  months  or  during  the  war. 

On  the  eleventh  of  June,  1846,  Shields  wrote  me  from  the 
steamboat  Diadem: 

"Dear  Koerner:  I  shall  land  at  Shawneetown  this  even- 
ing; thence  to  Belleville  and  Springfield.  My  object  is  to 
rally  volunteers.  Illinois  must  rally  now  and  win  a  character. 
My  intention  is  to  volunteer  myself.  You  in  your  cool  way 
may  think  this  strange ;  but  I  owe  much  to  the  State  and  must 
join  them  in  an  emergency.  I  long  to  see  you.  There  are  a 
thousand  reasons  I  could  give  for  this  whenever  I  should  meet 
you.  I  suggest  raising  a  company  of  gallant  young  Germans. 
This  can  easily  be  done  in  St.  Glair  and  the  adjoining  counties. 
Let  some  experienced  men  place  themselves  at  the  head.  This 
should  be  done  at  once.  I  know  nothing  as  yet  of  what  is 
going  on  in  Illinois.  Your  friend. ' ' 

Shields 's  ardor  was  not  stronger  than  the  zeal  of  our 
young  men  in  Illinois.  Before  I  had  received  the  letter  a  vol- 
unteer company  in  St.  Clair,  and  also  one  in  Monroe,  had 
already  been  formed,  mostly  of  gallant  young  Germans.  The 
St.  Clair  company  had  elected  Don  Morrison  as  their  captain, 
Julius  Raith,  first  lieutenant,  Nathaniel  Niles,  a  Belleville 
lawyer,  second  lieutenant,  and  Adolph  Engelmann,  who,  early 
in  the  year  had  left  Quiney  and  returned  to  Belleville  to  prac- 
tice law,  first  sergeant.  The  other  company,  mostly  boys  from 
Monroe  and  from  St.  Clair,  had  made  W.  H.  Bissell  captain. 
While  they  were  getting  ready,  the  citizens  voluntarily  fur- 
nished them  with  provisions  and  blankets,  and  the  ladies 
busied  themselves  making  plain  provisional  uniforms.  Some 


496  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

old  German  soldiers  commenced  drilling  them  at  once,  and  on 
the  fifteenth  of  June  the  Morrison  company  left  for  Alton, 
the  place  appointed  by  Governor  Ford  as  a  rendezvous. 

The  second  company  under  Bissell  left  on  the  seventeenth. 
The  ladies  of  Belleville  had  made  up  beautiful  flags,  one  of 
which  I  was  requested  to  present  to  the  first  company  which 
left.  It  was  the  first  organized  and  the  first  which  reached 
Alton.  I  may  give  a  few  passages  of  my  address  delivered  on 
the  public  square  in  front  of  the  company. 

"The  patriotic  ladies  of  Belleville  have  honored  me  with 
the  charge  of  transmitting  to  you  soldiers  this  flag,  prepared 
by  their  fair  hands.  It  is  the  flag  of  our  country,  which  never 
has  been  sullied,  never  disgraced.  As  you  were  the  first  in 
our  young  and  gallant  State  to  rally  under  its  noble  folds, 
they  hope  —  and  so  do  we  all  —  that  you  will  be  the  last  to 
desert  it.  Casting  my  eyes  upon  your  ranks,  I  see  many  who, 
like  myself,  have  left  another  hemisphere  to  plant  their  homes 
upon  this  free  soil.  My  heart  swells  with  joy  and  pride  to  see 
so  many  of  you  amongst  the  first  to  sustain  the  right  and 
honor  of  our  adopted  country.  Courage  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle is  but  one  of  the  requisites  of  a  good  soldier.  Patient 
endurance,  self-restraint,  prompt  submission  to  discipline  are 
equally  necessary.  Without  these  qualifications  in  the  sol- 
diery the  most  numerous  army  is  powerless.  Practice  these 
virtues  for  the  sake  of  your  country.  Receive,  then,  brave 
volunteers,  this  beautiful  flag,  the  gift  of  your  country-women, 
who  have  fully  appreciated  your  noble  spirit.  Support  and 
defend  it  to  the  very  last.  Not  your  honor  alone  is  concerned, 
but  the  honor  of  us  all,  the  honor  of  our  State  and  of  our  com- 
mon country  is  now  in  your  charge.  Strong  as  our  sympa- 
thies are  for  you,  much  as  we  are  concerned  in  your  welfare, 
we  would  rather  hear  of  your  death  than  of  your  dishonor. 
But  there  is  no  reason  to  mistrust  you.  This  noble  flag  is  safe 
in  your  hands;  you  will  never  return  without  it." 

Early  in  July  I  had  hastened  to  Alton,  where  our  com- 
panies, together  with  companies  from  Madison  and  other 
southern  counties,  were  already  encamped  under  tents.  They 
were  to  form  two  regiments.  At  this  time  regiments  had 
organized,  or  were  about  organizing,  in  Morgan  and  Sanga- 
mon  Counties,  thus  completing  the  Illinois  quota,  which  was 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  497 

four  thousand  men.  Shields  had  gone  to  Springfield,  but  as 
for  his  rallying  volunteers,  there  was  no  reason  for  it.  Many 
more  companies  had  already  organized  in  the  State  than  were 
necessary  to  fill  the  number,  and  the  surplus  had  to  be 
rejected,  which  created  a  good  deal  of  dissatisfaction.  When 
I  got  to  Alton  I  met  Shields,  who  was  anxious  to  be  elected 
colonel  of  one  of  the  southern  regiments,  though  he  did  not 
announce  himself  as  a  candidate.  He  wanted  me  to  assist 
him;  but  I  was  soon  satisfied  that  he  had  no  chance.  The 
volunteers  had  already  come  to  a  general  understanding  to 
elect  no  staff  officers  for  their  regiments  outside  of  those  who 
had  first  signed  the  enlistment  roll,  when  all  were  privates. 
Their  company  officers  they  had  already  elected  and  they 
looked  to  them  for  their  staff  officers.  Shields  was  much 
mortified;  but  he  joined  me  at  once  to  support  for  colonel  of 
the  regiment  made  up  of  volunteers  from  St.  Clair,  Madison, 
Monroe  and  other  southern  counties,  William  H.  Bissell.  The 
opposing  candidate  was  J.  L.  D.  Morrison.  In  this  country 
politics  play  an  important  part  in  almost  every  question  of 
public  interest.  Bissell  was  a  Democrat  and  Morrison  a  Whig. 
Most  all  the  southern  volunteers  were  Democrats ;  so  that  there 
was  not  much  trouble  about  BisselPs  election.  The  mode  of 
election  was  singularly  simple.  The  regiment  was  drawn  up 
in  single  file.  The  candidates  stood  at  some  distance  in  front. 
A  civilian  acted  as  teller.  All  those  in  favor  of  Bissell  were 
told  to  run  up  to  him,  those  in  favor  of  Morrison  to  run  up 
to  him.  The  word  was  given,  and  a  very  large  majority  sided 
with  Bissell.  There  was  no  need  of  counting.  Morrison  was 
then  unanimously  elected  lieutenant-colonel,  and  a  lawyer 
from  Monroe,  Mr.  Trail,  major.  The  promotion  of  Morrison 
from  captain  to  lieutenant-colonel  left  vacancies  in  his  com- 
pany. Julius  Raith  was  made  captain,  N.  Niles,  first,  and 
Adolph  Engelmann,  second  lieutenant.  Soon  the  other  regi- 
ments arrived  at  Alton.  John  Hardin  of  Morgan  and  Ed- 
ward Baker  of  Sangamon  were  colonels. 


498  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Shields  still  remained  at  Alton.  It  was  generally  sup- 
posed that  Senator  Semple  of  Illinois  would  be  appointed 
brigadier-general  by  the  President.  He  had  been  a  militia 
general  and  had  been  in  the  Black  Hawk  War.  I  do  not 
believe  he  wanted  the  place;  for,  whilst  I  was  constantly 
receiving  letters  from  him  regarding  the  Oregon  boundary 
question,  which  was  his  particular  hobby,  and  which  was  then 
unfortunately  much  debated  in  Congress  and  getting  us  into 
serious  complications  with  England,  he  never  mentioned  any- 
thing of  his  intention  to  engage  in  the  Mexican  War.  He  was 
really  a  great  favorite  of  President  Polk. 

While  Shields  was  familiar  with  pistol-shooting  and  gun- 
ning generally,  he  had  never  had  any  manual  drill  with  mus- 
kets. He  kept  one  in  his  room  in  Alton  and  as  I  had  been 
regularly  drilled  in  Munich  by  our  fencing  master,  a  sergeant 
of  the  Royal  Halberdier  Guards,  and  also  whilst  I  was  in  the 
National  Guard  at  Frankfort,  upon  his  request  I  went  with 
him  through  a  course  in  manual  drill.  He  was  most  amus- 
ingly awkward  about  it.  He  also  studied  the  United  States 
infantry  tactics.  When,  shortly  before  the  troops  left  Alton 
for  New  Orleans,  he  was  appointed  brigadier-general,  it 
greatly  surprised  everybody.  In  fact,  his  appointment  was 
greatly  criticized  at  first.  But  within  a  short  time  he  had  by 
his  tact  and  affability  made  himself  very  popular  amongst  the 
boys,  and  his  subsequent  conduct  in  the  war  certainly  justi- 
fied the  appointment. 

While  at  Alton  I  was  very  much  against  my  will  put  in 
quite  an  embarrassing  position.  Colonel  Hardin  had  com- 
pleted his  regiment  and  was  mustered  in.  Colonel  Baker  had 
not  yet  a  full  regiment,  but  reported  it  to  the  Governor, 
whereupon  he  received  his  commission,  before  Hardin  had 
reported  his  regiment.  As  seniority  depends  upon  the  date 
of  the  commission,  Baker  claimed  that  his  regiment  should  be 
the  first  regiment.  Hardin  contended  that  as  his  regiment  had 
been  completed  and  had  been  mustered  in  by  the  Inspector- 
General  of  the  United  States,  it  should  be  the  first.  In  the 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  499 

meantime  BisselTs  regiment  and  another  one  from  southern 
Illinois  had  been  filled  and  mustered  in.  There  was  great 
excitement  about  this  matter  between  Hardin  and  Baker. 
Both  were  distinguished  lawyers,  both  had  been  members  of 
Congress  from  the  Sangamon  district,  both  had  numerous 
friends  and  adherents.  Hardin,  though,  was  the  most  popu- 
lar. He  was  from  Kentucky,  from  a  much  noted  family.  Of 
medium  size,  he  was  very  finely  built,  had  beautiful  jet-black 
eyes,  when  I  first  knew  him,  but  had  lost  one  of  them  not  long 
before  by  an  accident  while  hunting.  His  features  were  very 
handsome  and  his  complexion  as  delicate  as  a  woman's.  He 
was  somewhat  impulsive,  but  in  the  main  his  character  was 
winning  and  amiable.  No  man  could  have  had  warmer  per- 
sonal friends.  Edward  Baker  was  an  Englishman,  but  had 
come  to  this  country  quite  young.  He  was,  like  Hardin,  an 
active  politician,  and  not  only  a  fluent  speaker,  but  an  orator. 
His  imagination  was  strong  and  his  intimate  knowledge  of 
English  literature,  particularly  poetry,  permitted  him  to 
adorn  his  speeches  with  happy  illustrations.  He  was  large,  of 
very  fine  physique,  though  his  face  was  not  so  pleasing,  show- 
ing a  sort  of  overbearing  and  sneering  disposition. 

The  contestants  finally  agreed  to  leave  the  matter  to  arbi- 
tration. They  both  agreed  upon  a  captain  of  the  United 
States  Army,  I  believe,  by  the  name  of  Sibley,  who  was  then 
acting  at  Alton  as  quartermaster.  Colonel  Hardin  selected 
me  to  my  great  astonishment.  My  acquaintance  with  him  was 
but  slight.  He  had  attended  some  cases  in  the  Supreme  Court 
of  which  I  was  a  member.  In  politics  he  was  a  radical  Whig, 
and  I  a  strong  Democrat ;  and,  what  was  most  strange  in  the 
matter,  Baker  had  selected  Governor  Ford,  who  was  certainly 
to  a  great  extent  committed  by  having  issued  Baker's  commis- 
sion first.  Now  Ford  was  a  Democrat,  known  to  be  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  mine,  who  had  provisionally  appointed  me  to 
the  supreme  bench,  and  so  it  might  be  supposed  that  I  would 
take  Baker's  or  rather  Ford's  side.  The  point  in  dispute 
might  appear  unimportant,  but  it  was  not.  If,  in  battle  or 


500  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

out  of  battle,  the  brigadier  should  be  absent  at  any  time,  and 
if  in  the  brigadiership  there  should  be  a  vacancy,  the  oldest 
colonel  would  be  in  the  line  of  promotion. 

Both  parties  argued  their  claims  very  ably  and  at  very 
great  length  before  us  in  the  parlors  of  the  Alton  Hotel,  over- 
crowded with  people.  But  it  was  plain  that  Baker  had 
reported  prematurely,  and  that  Ford,  while  acting  in  good 
faith  when  he  issued  the  commission,  should  have  recalled  it 
when  he  was  made  aware  of  the  real  facts. 

I,  as  the  youngest  member  of  the  board  of  arbitration, 
was  called  upon  to  give  my  vote  first,  and  I  voted  for  Hardin, 
Ford  for  Baker,  but  Captain  Sibley  voted  for  Hardin,  too. 
I  can  hardly  tell  with  what  fervor  Hardin  thanked  me  for 
my  vote.  He  would  have  been  a  warm  friend  of  mine  through 
life,  but  I  never  saw  him  again.  Leading  his  regiment,  per- 
haps imprudently,  to  a  desperate  charge  against  an  over- 
whelming force  of  the  enemy,  he  gave  his  life  for  his  country 
on  the  bloody  field  of  Buena  Vista. 

Baker  also  proved  an  able  soldier.  When  Shields  was, 
as  was  supposed,  mortally  wounded  at  Cerro  Gordo,  leading 
his  brigade,  which  consisted  of  the  Third  and  Fourth  Illinois 
Regiments,  he  took  command  of  the  brigade,  Colonel  Foreman 
of  the  Third  waiving  his  seniority.  After  various  and  many 
adventures  after  the  Mexican  War,  Baker  had  settled  in  Ore- 
gon and  was  elected  United  States  Senator  for  the  new  State 
of  Oregon  in  1859.  When  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  broke  out, 
he  entered  the  army,  becoming  colonel  of  a  regiment,  and 
right  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  fell  at  Ball's  Bluff  in  that 
encounter  so  unfortunate  for  the  Union  forces. 

Having  been  employed  in  a  good  many  cases  in  Madison 
and  St.  Clair  Counties,  which  could  not  be  tried  before  me,  I 
had  made  an  arrangement  with  Judge  Caton  to  hold  at  the 
May  term,  1846,  a  three  weeks'  court  in  those  counties,  while 
I  took  Stark  and  Peoria  Counties  in  his  circuit.  Returning 
from  Toulon  in  Stark  County  to  Peoria,  I  found  that  Colonel 
May,  a  former  member  of  Congress,  was  trying  to  get  up  vol- 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  501 

unteers,  but  there  was  not  much  enthusiasm  there  for  the  war. 
There  was  still  less  of  it  in  the  more  northern  counties.  Col- 
onel May  and  some  friends  at  last  called  a  public  meeting  to 
arouse  some  war  spirit,  and  as  I  had  just  come  from  the  south 
where  I  had  witnessed  the  ardor  with  which  volunteers  came 
forward,  he  was  very  anxious  that  I  should  stir  up  the  boys. 
With  the  help  of  a  band  of  music  we  got  up  a  respectable 
crowd  on  the  public  square  before  the  court-house,  and  we 
succeeded  by  some  patriotic  speeches  in  filling  up  a  company 
on  the  spot,  a  good  many  Germans  being  amongst  them.  But 
they  reported  too  late,  and  could  not  be  accepted,  which  cre- 
ated intense  mortification  and  dissatisfaction,  it  being  charged 
that  the  Governor  had  rejected  them  improperly. 

While  holding  court  in  Peoria,  the  most  beautifully  situ- 
ated city  in  all  Illinois,  and  even  then  a  very  lively  and  pros- 
perous place,  I  was  one  morning  very  agreeably  surprised 
when  word  was  sent  me  from  the  landing  that  some  ladies 
were  very  anxious  to  see  me  and  that  I  should  hurry,  because 
the  boat  would  start  in  a  few  minutes  up  the  river  for  Peru. 
I  ran  down,  and  whom  should  I  see  but  Sophie  and  Mrs. 
Caton.  Judge  Caton  had  taken  his  wife  down  to  St.  Clair, 
and  she  had  of  course  become  acquainted  with  Sophie,  and  as 
she  had  to  return  home  by  herself,  the  judge  being  still 
engaged  in  holding  court,  she  had  persuaded  Sophie  to  go 
along  and  stay  with  me  in  Peoria.  Sophie  came  off  the  boat 
much  delighted  with  the  first  trip  she  had  made  since  we  had 
settled  in  St.  Clair,  and  with  Mrs.  Caton  also,  with  whom  she 
kept  up  very  friendly  relations  in  Ottawa  and  Chicago  until 
the  very  last  year  of  her  life.  The  weather  was  charming.  We 
made  excursions  into  the  romantic  surroundings,  and  received 
a  number  of  invitations.  It  was  a  happy  time,  indeed,  and 
long  remembered  with  pleasure. 

Our  troops,  some  time  in  July  had  gone  down  by  New 
Orleans  into  Texas,  where  a  part  of  the  army  then  under  Gen- 
eral Taylor,  who,  after  successful  battles  at  Palo  Alto  and 
Eesaca  de  la  Palma,  had  taken  Monterey  in  Mexico  and  made 


502 

it  his  headquarters,  was  put  under  the  command  of  General 
Wool  and  General  Shields  and  dispatched  across  Texas,  over 
the  Rio  Grande,  towards  Santa  Fe  De  Potosi.  The  First  and 
Second  Illinois  regiments  were  part  of  this  "Army  of  the 
Right,"  as  it  was  called.  At  Monclova,  Shields  received  or- 
ders from  General  Taylor  to  repair  to  Tampico,  from  which 
place  he  joined  the  army  under  General  Scott,  which  was  to 
invade  Mexico  by  way  of  Vera  Cruz.  Shields  took  command 
of  the  Third  and  Fourth  Illinois  regiments.  On  the  20th  of 
January,  1847,  I  received  a  very  interesting  and  voluminous 
letter  from  Colonel  Bissell,  dated  at  Camp  San  Juan  de  Buena 
Vista  near  Saltillo. 

After  giving  a  description  of  their  long,  hard  and  tedious 
march  through  the  swamps  and  prairies  of  Texas,  and  the 
rocky  deserts  of  Mexico,  and  of  the  excellent  conduct  of  the 
Illinois  volunteers  in  the  most  trying  and  discouraging  situ- 
ations, and  also  of  their  perfect  soldierly  training,  he  stated 
that  at  Parras,  celebrated  for  its  vineyards,  and  where  they 
expected  to  be  encamped  for  some  time,  they  received  orders 
from  General  Worth,  then  at  Saltillo,  to  come  with  all  speed 
to  his  relief,  as  he  had  but  a  thousand  men  and  was  in  hourly 
expectation  of  an  attack  from  a  large  body  of  the  enemy. 

"We  marched,"  he  wrote,  "in  less  than  four  days  from 
getting  Worth 's  dispatch,  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  —  for 
infantry  an  extraordinary  march.  We  are  now  encamped 
near  Saltillo  four  miles  from  town.  Besides  General  Wool's 
division  there  are  also  here  two  Indiana  regiments  and  one 
Kentucky  regiment.  All  our  friends  here  are  getting  along 
pretty  well.  Adolphus  Engelmann  has  sustained  himself  well 
and  honorably  and  stands  as  fair  among  us  as  his  friends 
could  possibly  desire.  His  health  is  excellent  and  he  is  at- 
tentive and  ambitious.  Colonel  Morrison  is  also  in  good 
health,  and  has,  I  think,  fairly  realized  the  expectations  of 
his  friends." 

He  remarks  that  rumors  were  rife  of  an  early  attack 
from  the  enemy,  but  they  were  not  reliable;  still  they  were 
ready  for  any  emergency. 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  503 

BUENA  VISTA 

On  the  23rd  of  February  the  most  sanguinary  battle  of 
the  war  was  fought  at  Buena  Vista.  On  the  24th  of  February 
Colonel  Bissell  wrote  me  from  the  battlefield : 

"Friend  Koerner.  —  A  most  tremendous  battle  was 
fought  here  yesterday  and  the  day  before  between  our  forces 
on  the  one  side  and  Santa  Anna's,  commanded  by  himself, 
on  the  other.  The  battle  was  long  continued  and  dreadfully 
sanguinary,  but  the  result  glorious,  glorious  for  our  beloved 
country.  We  routed  the  enemy  and  drove  him  to  seek  safety 
by  flight  under  cover  of  night.  His  loss  in  killed  and  wounded 
is  immense,  —  we  cannot  conjecture  what.  Our  own  also  is 
severe.  Colonels  Hardin,  Yell  —  Arkansas  —  McKee  and  Clay 
—  Kentucky  —  were  killed  upon  the  field  in  a  most  dreadful 
conflict,  and  fell  almost  within  my  reach.  My  own  brave 
regiment  has  won  for  itself  eternal  honor,  and  since  it  did 
more  fighting  than  any  other  regiment,  has  suffered  most 
severely  —  about  sixty-five  killed,  eighty  wounded,  nine  or 
ten  missing.  Engelmann  acted  most  gallantly  upon  the  field 
and  was  severely,  but  not  dangerously,  wounded  in  the  shoul- 
der. He  is  doing  well  and  has  every  attention  and  is  in 
good  spirits.  Our  whole  loss  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing 
will  probably  be  four  or  five  hundred.  We  are  all  perfectly 
prostrate  —  worn  out.  You  will  get  the  particulars  from 
other  sources.  I  have  not  a  moment  to  spare.  Good  bye! 
W.  H.  Bissell." 

The  letter  was  hastily  written,  but  evidently  read  over, 
as  it  shows  a  few  small  corrections.  Only  a  man  so  clear- 
headed and  full  of  nerve  as  Bissell  could  have  written  these 
lines  a  few  hours  after  he  was  in  the  thick  of  the  fight. 

A  month  later  he  wrote  me  from  the  same  camp. 

"I  have  just  returned  from  Saltillo,  where  I  went  ex- 
pressly to  see  Adolphus.  He  was  severely  wounded  and  has 
suffered  much  in  consequence.  Indeed,  he  has  suffered  a 
dozen  deaths,  but  he  is  greatly  improved  within  the  last  week. 
There  is  not  the  least  doubt  of  his  recovery,  nor  is  there  any 
reason  to  fear  the  loss  of  his  arm,  the  joints  of  which  he  can 
move  quite  freely  even  now.  He  is  much  reduced,  but  he  is 
in  fine  spirits,  has  a  good  appetite  and  is  gaining  strength 
every  day.  We  expect  to  start  about  four  weeks  from  this 


504  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNEE 

time  for  home,  but  you  need  hardly  expect  to  see  us  before 
the  10th  or  15th  of  July.  We  shall  have  no  more  fighting 
here.  Adolphus  will  be  able  to  accompany  us  home  and  you 
may  rest  assured  I  shall  not  come  without  him.  He  acted 
nobly  on  the  battlefield.  Colonel  Morrison  has  just  left  us 
for  home.  He  got  leave  of  absence,  being  sick  with  rheuma- 
tism. He  will  tell  you  the  news. ' ' 

Bissell's  regiment  was  very  small  at  the  battle.  At  the 
time  it  had  reached  Saltillo  there  were  nearly  a  hundred  men 
on  the  sick  list,  and  four  companies  had  been  detached  as  a 
part  of  the  garrison  at  Saltillo.  There  were  probably  not 
more  than  five  hundred  men  rank  and  file  on  the  field.  This 
must  be  considered  in  estimating  the  greatness  of  the  loss  in 
the  battle. 

Regarding  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista  and  the  conduct  of 
Bissell's  regiment  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle,  Colonel 
Churchill,  the  inspector  general,  who  commanded  temporarily 
the  brigade  stationed  at  the  extremity  of  the  left  wing,  (Gen- 
eral Wool  being  in  another  part  of  the  field,)  wrote  a  letter 
to  Senator  Douglas,  afterwards  published,  in  which  he  speaks 
of  Colonel  Bissell  as  the  modest  and  gallant  Bissell,  and  gives 
some  details  of  this  part  of  the  battle: 

"The  Second  Indiana  regiment,  being  on  the  left  of  the 
Bissell  regiment,  covering  it,  and  on  the  extremity  of  the  left 
wing,  was  obliged  to  retreat  from  that  position,  an  unduly 
advanced  one.  It  had  then  lost  nearly  a  quarter  of  its  men. 
The  regiment  for  want  of  a  qualified  colonel  continued  their 
flight  instead  of  halting  and  rallying  on  the  first  suitable 
ground.  By  that  flight  the  whole  plateau  to  the  left  of  the 
Second  Illinois  Regiment  about  half  a  mile  to  the  mountain 
was  open,  the  enemy  firing  upon  that  regiment  and  approach- 
ing it  in  large  force,  evidently  with  an  intention,  certainly 
with  a  chance,  in  its  then  position,  to  turn  its  left  flank,  gain 
its  rear  and  thus  effect  its  capture.  Seeing  this,  foreseeing 
the  inevitable  destruction  of  the  regiment  by  death,  capture 
or  flight  in  a  very  few  minutes,  because  the  whole  plateau 
must  be  held  by  the  regiment  alone  as  infantry,  till  another, 
then  in  sight  approaching,  should  arrive  or  the  battle  would 
be  inevitably  lost,  the  staff  officer,  Colonel  Churchill  (the 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE  505 

writer  of  the  letter)  took  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of 
moving  that  regiment  to  the  rear  and  placing  it  near  its  first 
protection  on  the  edge  of  a  ravine,  so  that  the  enemy  would 
not  be  able  easily  to  gain  its  rear.  Yet  the  movement  was  a 
hazardous  one;  a  retreat  under  fire  is  always  more  or  less 
dangerous  with  regular  veteran  troops.  In  this  instance  the 
regiment  had  been  but  a  few  months  in  the  service,  officers 
and  men  had  never  before  been  in  a  battle,  even  in  a  skirmish 
and  had  just  then  witnessed  the  flight  of  another  regiment, 
till  then  its  left  hand  pillar,  in  panic ;  and  more,  when  faced 
about,  would  see  that  regiment  still  running  from  the  field. 
The  panic  was  likely  to  be  contagious.  But  he  resolved  to 
save  the  regiment  and  hoped  thereby  to  save  the  battle.  He 
directed  Colonel  Bissell  to  retire  with  his  regiment  and  take 
a  better  position  contiguous  to  the  right  of  a  light  battery. 
This  order  was  given  when  the  regiment  was  receiving  a  heavy 
and  killing  fire  from  the  advancing  enemy.  But  the  order 
was  executed  with  cool  precision  and  steadiness,  and  after 
marching  about  two  hundred  yards  it  was  halted  by  the  word 
of  command,  faced  about  and  resumed  its  fire,  and  not  a  man 
was  out  of  place  or  out  of  alignment,  and  all  the  while  under 
a  destructive  fire.  By  this  firmness  and  good  conduct,  which 
was  witnessed  by  many  persons  with  the  most  intense  anxiety, 
the  regiment  and  its  worthy  commander,  who  had  never  dis- 
mounted, though  all  the  other  officers  of  the  regiment  had 
done  so,  earned  and  received  great  praise.  It  held  the  posi- 
tion until  reinforced  and  thereby  opportunity  was  afforded 
for  much  more  and  like  hard  work  by  that  and  other  regi- 
ments during  the  day  and  before  the  victory  was  finally 
won. ' ' 

Adolph  returned  about  July,  very  much  emaciated  and 
with  an  extraordinarily  big  bullet  still  in  his  shoulder.  Dr. 
George  Engelmann  succeeded  in  extracting  it  in  St.  Louis, 
but  it  took  all  summer  for  the  wound  to  heal,  and  fears  were 
entertained  that  he  would  go  into  consumption  on  account 
of  the  constant  flow  of  matter.  But  he  recovered;  his  arm, 
however,  being  left  lame,  in  a  measure,  for  all  time. 

Little  Pauline,  having  seen  the  light  of  day  so  near  the 
date  of  this  glorious  battle,  was  called  Pauline  Buena  Vista. 


CHAPTER  XX 

The  Years  1847-1848 

In  April,  1847,  my  mother  died.  And  such  a  mother! 
Her  last  sickness  lasted  only  five  days;  and  the  day  before 
she  was  taken  down  she  listened  with  the  greatest  interest 
to  a  literary  lecture  delivered  by  one  of  the  most  eloquent 
ministers  of  the  New  German  Catholic  Church,  and  had,  on 
her  return,  given  a  full  account  of  it  to  sister  Pauline.  Even 
on  the  day  she  felt  the  first  symptoms  of  her  sickness,  she  had 
written  me  a  most  affectionate  and  clearheaded  letter.  She 
was  seventy-two  years  old,  but  her  loss  was  most  painful  to 
me,  and  doubly  so  because  Pauline  was  left  alone. 

It  was  but  natural  that  our  thoughts  should  turn  again 
to  the  plan  of  having  our  sister  join  us.  It  was  her  wish 
also.  Unfortunately  the  death  of  my  mother  had  prostrated 
her  so  that  her  own  fragile  health  would  not  allow  her  for  a 
long  while  to  undertake  such  a  journey.  Dr.  Henry  Hoff- 
mann, my  most  intimate  college  friend,  who  had  attended 
mother  in  her  last  sickness,  and  had,  as  Pauline  wrote  me, 
not  only  acted  as  her  physician  but  as  an  affectionate  son, 
advised  strongly  against  undertaking  the  voyage,  and  so  this 
plan,  so  often  taken  up  and  so  often  abandoned,  had  to  be 
postponed  again. 

In  May,  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo  having  been  fought, 
we  were  startled  and  pained  by  the  news  that  Shields  had 
been  mortally  wounded  while  leading  his  brigade  against  the 
enemy.  But  he  almost  miraculously  recovered,  though  he 
did  not  return  to  Belleville  until  some  considerable  time  after 
the  peace  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  in  February,  1848. 


THE  YEARS  1847-1848  507 

I  was  honored  by  the  reception  committee  to  deliver  an 
address  of  welcome  to  the  returned  volunteers  of  the  two 
regiments  from  southern  Illinois.  In  a  beautiful  grove  north- 
east of  the  city,  several  thousand  people  had  assembled,  nearly 
one-half  ladies.  Led  by  Colonel  Bissell  and  Lieutenant-Col- 
onel Morrison,  the  volunteers  marched  into  the  amphitheatre, 
with  their  faded  uniforms  and  their  tattered  regimental  flags. 
Colonel  Bissell  made  a  most  chaste  and  able  reply.  I  believe 
Colonel  Morrison  also  spoke,  and,  if  he  did,  he  spoke  well. 
My  speech  was  rather  more  flowery  and  rhetorical  than  my 
usual  public  addresses ;  but  I  had  to  speak  to  an  excited  crowd 
and  was  really  much  moved  myself.  In  closing,  remembering 
those  of  our  kindred  and  friends  who  had  found  their  graves 
in  Mexico,  I  quoted  the  last  verse  of  a  popular  German  song, 
translated : 

"He  who  in  Freedom's  cause 
A  noble  death  has  found, 
Even  in  a  foreign  soil 
Sleeps  in  his  native  ground." 

' '  Und  wer  den  Tod  im  Freiheitskampf e  f  and, 
Ruht  auch  in  fremder  Erde  im  Vaterland." 

Late  in  the  summer  of  this  year  we  lost  Decker.  He  died 
just  at  the  time  when  good  fortune  seemed  at  last  to  smile 
upon  him.  He  had  been  employed  in  a  lawyer's  office,  had 
improved  his  opportunity  by  reading  law,  had  become  well- 
acquainted  with  the  officers  of  the  court-house  and  had  been 
made  a  deputy  sheriff,  quite  a  lucrative  place.  His  uniform 
kindness,  his  strict  and  conscientious  performance  of  his  duty 
had  made  him  very  popular,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  a 
short  time  he  would  have  reached  some  prominent  official 
position.  He  died  after  a  very  short  sickness  of  inflammation 
of  the  throat,  leaving  our  Caroline  with  two  very  promising 
children,  Ernest  and  Lina,  to  fight  the  battle  of  life  alone. 
But  her  stout  heart,  her  strong  mind,  her  untiring  energy, 
proved  equal  to  the  severe  task. 


508  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Upon  the  invitation  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Illinois  Literary  and  Historical  Society,  I  delivered  an  ad- 
dress at  their  annual  meeting  at  Upper  Alton  on  the  23rd  of 
July,  1847.  As  the  subject  had  been  left  entirely  to  my  choice 
I  thought  I  would  embrace  the  opportunity  of  enlightening 
the  public  a  little  on  Old  Germany;  having  found  out  that 
even  otherwise  well-informed  people  had  very  little  knowl- 
edge of  that  country  and  its  institutions.  The  contents  of  my 
speech  are  indicated  by  the  following  words  from  the  intro- 
ductory part: 

' '  I  intend  to  present  to  you  a  brief  sketch  of  the  present 
statistical  and  political  state  of  Germany,  showing  her  geo- 
graphical position  and  boundaries,  the  peculiar  character  of 
her  government  and  her  recent  commercial  and  political  de- 
velopment, more  particularly  as  the  latter  may  bear  upon  the 
interests  of  the  United  States. 

"The  subject  is  one  which  is  naturally  somewhat  familiar 
to  me,  while  it  is  novel  to  some  of  the  audience.  Familiar  it 
is  to  me,  since  it  concerns  the  country  of  my  birth,  to  which 
I  still  look  with  deep  interest  and  for  which  I  still  cherish  an 
unfading  attachment;  novel  to  others,  because  so  changing 
has  been  the  history  of  the  country  for  centuries  past,  so  com- 
plicated with  political  relations,  so  closely  connected  are  its 
present  institutions  with  a  long  by-gone  past,  that  no  one  but 
the  student  of  history  or  one  who  is  a  native  of  the  country, 
is  able  to  unravel  the  threads  in  the  labyrinth  of  Germany's 
existence. ' ' 

I  took  particular  pains  to  show  that  no  country  in  Europe 
took  so  great  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  United  States 
as  Germany ;  that  even  at  the  time  of  our  War  of  Independ- 
ence public  opinion  was  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Revolution, 
—  that  our  German  poets,  public  writers,  and  philosophers 
were  enthusiastically  for  the  success  of  the  American  cause; 
that  Frederick  the  Great  was  our  friend  from  the  beginning, 
as  shown  by  the  correspondence  of  our  diplomatic  agents; 
that  the  acts  of  some  of  the  smaller  princes  in  selling  their 
subjects  as  auxiliary  troops  to  Great  Britain  had  been  uni- 
versally condemned ;  and  that  insurrections  and  mutinies  even 


THE  YEARS  1847-1848  509 

amongst  the  troops  to  be  sent  had  broken  out.  I  thought  it 
quite  appropriate  to  allude  to  this  trade  in  human  flesh  by 
some  of  the  most  despicable  princes  of  Germany,  as  the  Na- 
tive American  party  had  at  all  times  tried  to  make  capital 
against  the  Germans  on  account  of  some  thousands  of  them 
having  been  shipped  over  to  fight  for  English  supremacy.  A 
good  many  of  the  audience  expressed  to  me  their  great  satis- 
faction for  the  information  I  had  given  them,  and  confessed 
it  had  removed  a  great  many  of  their  prejudices. 

JUDGE   CATON 

The  winter  of  1847-8  I  again  had  to  pass  entirely  at 
Springfield,  assisting  in  holding  the  Supreme  Court.  I  stop- 
ped at  an  excellent  private  boarding-house,  rooming  with 
Judge  John  D.  Caton.  We  had  always  been  very  friendly, 
but  now  we  became  really  intimate.  Born  and  raised  on  a 
New  York  farm,  of  almost  herculean  size,  though  his  head 
was  not  proportionately  large,  he  looked  even  then  more  like 
a  well-to-do  farmer  than  a  judge.  His  manners  were  rather 
rustic,  but  his  uniform  kindness  and  the  attention  he  showed 
to  others  made  him  a  very  pleasant  companion.  With  no 
classical  education  he  had  made  himself  a  very  respectable 
lawyer,  and  in  his  long  service  on  the  supreme  bench  he  im- 
proved himself  so  much  as  to  become  really  an  ornament  to 
it.  At  the  time  I  speak  of,  he  had  to  take  great  pains  in  com- 
posing his  opinions ;  but  in  the  course  of  time  his  style  became 
easy  and  flowing.  He  naturally  had  a  vast  amount  of  com- 
mon sense.  He  had,  soon  after  his  coming  to  the  State,  acquired 
a  farm.  Indeed,  he  understood  farming  exceedingly  well  in 
all  its  branches.  Besides  that,  he  had  a  marvelous  insight 
into  mechanics,  and  took  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  all  indus- 
trial pursuits.  I  believe  he  was  a  stockholder  in  a  paper-mill 
at  Ottawa,  where  he  resided.  Later  on  he  became  interested 
in  telegraphy.  From  a  small  stockholder  in  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company  he  became  the  holder  of  a  large 
amount  of  that  stock,  and  in  1860  he  was,  I  believe,  the  vice- 


510  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

president  or  superintendent  of  this  now  gigantic  corporation. 
It  seemed  that  in  all  his  enterprises  he  met  with  success. 
While  Ottawa  still  remained  his  residence,  where  he  occupied 
a  handsome  mansion  surrounded  by  beautiful  lanes  and  gar- 
dens with  a  large  park  adjoining  on  the  hills,  he  also  built 
himself  a  handsome  residence  on  one  of  the  Lake  avenues  of 
Chicago.  While  very  plain  in  his  dress  and  unpretending  in 
his  domestic  habits,  his  wealth  enabled  him  to  furnish  his 
residence  richly  and  tastefully.  At  Ottawa  he  kept  for  many 
years  a  splendid  deer  and  elk  park  in  which  he  took  great 
pride.  He  was  fond  of  out-of-door  life,  a  great  hunter  and 
fisherman,  and  a  most  untiring  traveler.  He  visited  Europe 
several  times  with  Mrs.  Caton,  and  went  into  Norway  and  to 
the  North  Cape.  To  the  Pacific  States  he  went  many  times 
and  visited  the  Sandwich  Islands.  I  believe  he  also  took  a 
trip  to  Cuba  and  other  islands  of  the  Antilles.  Some  of  his 
travels  he  has  described  in  a  very  pleasant  book,  showing  him 
to  be  a  very  close  observer.  He  also  published  a  book  on  the 
American  elk  and  deer.  From  all  these  excursions  he  brought 
home  fine  collections  of  prints,  photographs  and  many  re- 
markable curiosities.  By  the  burning  of  his  residence  at 
Ottawa  a  few  years  ago  he  met  with  the  loss  of  a  splendid 
library  and  other  things  of  great  value.  His  intercourse  with 
the  world  had  made  him  quite  a  different  man  from  what  he 
was  when  I  first  knew  him  in  1842 ;  but  his  natural  gentleness 
and  frank  and  open  disposition  remained  unaltered.  Sophie 
and  I  enjoyed  our  several  visits  to  Ottawa  very  much,  and  a 
few  years  ago  when  he  labored  under  a  severe  affliction,  hav- 
ing nearly  lost  his  eyesight,  we  still  found  him  in  Chicago  the 
same  old  open-hearted  friend  as  when  we  first  met  him.  In 
politics  he  was  an  uncompromising  Democrat,  and  while  he 
was  a  strong  Union  man,  he  never  joined  the  Republican 
party.  I  can  say  that  I  count  him  as  one  of  my  most  devoted 
friends. 


THE  YEARS  1847-1848  511 

EUROPEAN   CONDITIONS  IN   1847 

If  the  year  of  which  I  have  just  spoken  was  eventful  in 
our  country,  it  was  no  less  so  in  Europe.  In  Switzerland 
seven  of  the  cantons,  under  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits  and  the 
Ultramontane  party,  had  nullified  some  reformatory  measures 
of  the  general  government,  —  the  Bund,  —  and  relying  on 
the  moral  and  probably  material  aid  of  Austria  and  Prussia, 
had  seceded  from  the  Bund,  collecting  troops  to  defend  them- 
selves against  what  they  called  the  encroachment  of  the  Bund. 
But  the  general  government  promptly  called  a  large  force  of 
its  well-organized  militia  into  the  field  under  an  able  com- 
mander, General  Dufour,  and  before  Austria  and  Prussia 
could  interfere,  after  a  few  fights,  put  down  the  revolt,  where- 
upon the  reforming  of  the  old  Constitution  was  at  once  agi- 
tated. 

The  accession  of  Pio  Nono  to  the  Papal  throne  set  all 
Italy  on  fire.  Pio  Nono  undoubtedly  had  liberal  and  patriotic 
instincts  when  he  was  placed  in  his  seat.  He  at  once  intro- 
duced measures  reforming  some  of  the  most  trying  abuses. 
The  yearning  for  unity,  so  long  abiding  in  the  minds  of  the 
Italians,  and  still  more  their  ardent  desire  to  expel  Austria 
and  its  vassals  from  Lombardy,  Venice,  Parma,  and  Modena, 
the  finest  regions  of  Italy,  were  greatly  enhanced  by  this  new 
papal  regime.  Some  of  the  leading  patriots  dreamed  of  a 
confederation  of  all  the  Italian  States  under  the  presidency  of 
Pio  Nono ;  others,  more  practical,  looked  to  the  well-ruled  and 
practical  Kingdom  of  Sardinia  for  the  redress  of  their  griev- 
ances. Everywhere  meetings  were  held,  and  demonstrations 
made  in  favor  of  Pio  Nono.  In  the  Austrian  Dukedoms,  and 
in  Milan  and  Venice,  collisions  took  place  between  the  people 
and  the  Austrian  police  and  troops.  Austria,  of  course,  by 
the  most  rigid  measures,  suppressed  them,  or  tried  to  do  so. 
Sardinia  was  arming,  and  from  the  Alps  to  the  Gulf  of  Naples, 
Italy  was  in  a  state  of  great  commotion. 


512  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

In  France  the  opposition  gathered  strength  constantly. 
Ministers  and  other  higher  officials  had  been  found  guilty  of 
corruption,  selling  for  large  sums  liberal  concessions  to  rail- 
roads and  other  corporations.  The  government  had  most 
scandalously  interfered  in  the  elections.  But  it  was  the  cry 
for  reform,  almost  universal,  which  widened  the  breach  be- 
tween the  Liberals  and  the  Guizot  Ministry.  The  principal 
demand  was  for  the  enlargement  of  the  franchise.  A  few 
hundred  thousand  high  tax-payers  were  alone  entitled  to  vote 
for  representatives  to  the  Chambers.  Reform  clubs  were 
formed  in  Paris  and  all  over  France.  Large  meetings  were 
held,  but  Guizot  in  his  obstinacy  would  not  even  promise  re- 
form. The  unpopularity  of  the  King  and  his  government 
increased  from  day  to  day,  and  it  was  evident  that  unless  a 
change  in  the  ministry  took  place  a  revolution  would  be  the 
result. 

Great  Britain  was  not  exempt  from  political  disturb- 
ances. The  Chartist  party,  an  association  of  workingmen, 
which  had  existed  and  shown  itself  formidable  for  many 
years,  claiming  the  enlargement  of  the  elective  franchise,  the 
ballot  system,  annual  Parliaments  and  other  reforms,  re- 
newed their  agitation,  held  large  and  tumultuous  meetings, 
and  had  circulated  petitions  to  the  Parliament,  which  were, 
it  was  asserted,  signed  by  millions. 

A  succession  of  bad  crops  in  Ireland,  causing  a  real  fam- 
ine, revived  the  agrarian  agitation  there  to  a  dangerous  ex- 
tent, while,  at  the  same  time,  the  repeal  of  the  union  with 
England  by  a  revolution  was  the  object  of  a  new  party,  Young 
Ireland. 

Austria  being  threatened  by  a  revolutionary  outbreak  in 
Italy,  encountered  strong  opposition  in  Hungary,  which  coun- 
try complained  of  violations  of  its  constitution  and  of  the 
Metternich  government  in  general. 

The  vacillation  and  inconsistent  course  of  the  fantastic 
King  of  Prussia  had  at  last  excited  great  dissatisfaction  even 
amongst  many  heretofore  conservative  men.  The  liberal 


THE  YEARS  1847-1848  513 

measures  which  proceeded  from  him  in  the  first  few  years  of 
his  reign  were  soon  followed  by  decrees  betraying  a  most  ab- 
solutistic  tendency.  The  promise  made  by  his  father  to  es- 
tablish a  representative  government  he  declared  openly  as  not 
binding  on  him.  The  provincial  estates  he  held  to  be  a  suf- 
ficient representation  of  the  people.  "No  constitution  on 
paper,"  he  proclaimed,  "should  interpose  itself  between 
heaven  and  his  loyal  country."  But  the  people  were  not  wil- 
ling to  take  mere  shadows  for  substance.  Petitions  for  a  con- 
stitution came  even  from  the  provincial  estates,  also  from 
many  municipal  corporations.  A  flood  of  well-written  pam- 
phlets criticised  the  various  reactionary  measures.  Public 
meetings  were  held  and  the  German  press  in  the  States  where 
it  was  measurably  free  teemed  with  articles  severely  censur- 
ing the  system  of  the  Prussian  government,  and,  what  was 
still  more  dangerous  to  the  King,  ridiculing  and  caricaturing 
his  person  and  his  quixotic  notions  in  politics  as  well  as  in 
religion.  The  King,  irritated,  answered  these  attacks  by  vig- 
orous measures  against  the  press,  and  by  prosecutions  against 
university  professors,  publicists  and  poets,  increasing  thereby 
his  unpopularity.  At  last  he  called  all  the  provincial  estates 
to  Berlin,  insisting  that  these  old-fashioned  and  futile  bodies, 
which  had  only  the  privilege  of  expressing  wishes,  without 
having  the  power  to  vote,  unless  sanctioned  by  the  govern- 
ment, were,  when  united,  tantamount  to  a  Parliament  elected 
by  the  people.  But  even  in  this  united  assembly  he  met  with 
such  opposition  to  his  plans  that  he  finally,  June,  1847,  dis- 
solved it  with  an  address  showing  his  dissatisfaction  with 
their  proceedings.  The  speeches  made  by  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  German  public  men,  including  even  members 
of  the  nobility,  laying  bare  the  shortcomings  of  the  govern- 
ment and  condemning  without  mercy  the  whole  prevailing 
absolutist  system,  had  an  immense  influence  all  over  Germany 
and  left  the  King  and  his  ministry  in  a  tottering  condition. 

In  the  constitutional  States  of  Germany  Liberal  members 
of  the  legislatures  did  not  fail  to  call  loudly  for  reforms,  for 


514  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

a  greater  liberty  of  the  press,  for  annulling  the  influence  of 
the  governments  in  elections,  and  for  better  and  more  equal 
systems  of  taxations.  Their  greatest  efforts,  however,  were 
directed  to  a  thorough  reformation  of  the  German  Bund  and 
to  a  popular  representation  of  the  whole  German  people  at 
the  Diet  at  Frankfort.  Above  all  other  States  Baden  was  pre- 
eminent in  having  distinguished  and  very  eloquent  speakers 
in  the  legislature,  such  as  Von  Rotteck,  Welcker,  Von  Itz- 
stein,  Hecker  and  Sander.  The  debates  in  that  chamber  up- 
on the  reform  of  the  Bund  were  very  able,  and,  being  pub- 
lished all  over  Germany,  created  the  most  intense  interest.  It 
did  not  require  the  eye  of  a  prophet  to  foresee  that  Europe 
was  on  the  eve  of  a  great  upheaval. 

As  early  as  the  fifteenth  of  April,  Charles  wrote  me  from 
Frankfort : 

"The  address  of  the  King  on  the  opening  of  the  united 
provincial  estates,  —  of  this  romantic,  pietistic  fanatic,  —  is 
worth  gold ;  and  thinking  men  all  agree  that  he  cannot  go  on 
that  way  any  longer.  Oppression  of  all  intellectual  aspira- 
tions and  the  prevailing  material  misery  are  dangerous  ele- 
ments, and  they  have  reached  the  utmost  limit." 

In  December,  he  wrote: 

"Prussia  has  made  itself  utterly  contemptible  before  the 
whole  of  Europe,  particularly  its  conduct  in  the  Swiss  trouble, 
which  the  Swiss  Bund  has  put  down  so  quickly  and  so  glor- 
iously. Prussia,  with  its  prevailing  Jesuitical  maxims,  and 
with  its  romantic  mediaeval  clown  and  drunkard  at  its  head, 
rushes  into  its  near  perdition." 

This  outline  of  the  condition  of  Europe  just  before  the 
dawn  of  the  ever  memorable  year  1848,  which  in  more  than 
one  respect  affected  me  personally,  will  make  many  notices 
I  will  take  of  the  interesting  period  more  easily  understood. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

The  Revolutions  of  1848 

"Das  Volk  steht  auf, 
Der  Sturm  bricht  los." 

Some  time  in  March,  1848,  —  there  being  then  no  At- 
lantic cable,  which  was  first  laid  in  1858,  but  failed  and  was 
not  replaced  until  1866,  —  a  dispatch  was  received  one  morn- 
ing in  Belleville,  saying  that  Louis  Philippe  had  been  de- 
throned and  had  fled  towards  the  coast,  that  a  provisional 
government,  with  Lamartine  at  the  head,  had  been  formed, 
and  that  the  Republic  had  been  proclaimed  at  the  Hotel  de 
Ville,  in  Paris.  A  modern  reporter  would  have  written: 
"Belleville  was  wild  with  excitement."  Of  course,  those  who 
took  a  deep  interest  in  European  affairs,  all  the  exiles  and 
their  friends  and  relatives,  were  excited  by  this  news,  and 
the  Americans  generally,  though  not  caring  much  about  the 
particulars,  felt  proud  and  elated  that  a  great  nation  should 
have  adopted  a  Republican  form  of  government  like  their 
own. 

But  when  we  learned,  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  of  the 
rapid  spreading  of  the  revolutionary  movement  all  over  Ger- 
many, of  the  moral  breakdown  of  all  the  kingly  and  princely 
governments,  of  the  convening  of  nearly  five  hundred  Lib- 
erals, of  whom  the  greatest  part  were  or  had  been  members 
of  the  legislatures  of  the  different  States,  of  the  downfall  of 
the  illiberal  ministries  in  all  States,  except  Austria  and  Prus- 
sia, of  the  recall  of  the  members  of  the  Diet  (Bundestag)  and 
of  the  replacing  and  reinforcing  of  them  by  the  most  dis- 
tinguished Liberals,  of  the  calling  together  of  a  German  Con- 


516  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

stituent  Parliament  by  the  Diet  on  the  request  of  the  Frank- 
fort Convention,  of  the  granting  of  freedom  of  the  press  and 
trial  by  jury,  of  the  forming  of  National  Guards,  of  repre- 
sentation in  Parliament,  of  the  responsibility  of  ministers, 
and  of  the  promises  of  other  reforms,  —  I  must  say,  that  my 
heart  swelled  with  joy  at  the  intelligence.  The  ideal  of  my 
youth  for  which  I  had  sacrificed  all,  seemed  in  process  of 
realization.  "O!  If  mother  could  only  have  lived  to  see  all 
this,"  were  almost  the  first  words  I  spoke  to  Sophie. 

And  when,  a  week  or  so  afterwards,  the  startling  news 
came  that  Vienna  had  risen;  that  after  a  few  collisions  be- 
tween students  and  workingmen  and  soldiers,  the  Emperor 
had  accepted  the  petition  for  all  necessary  reforms ;  that  Met- 
ternich,  master  spirit  of  the  Reaction,  to  save  his  life,  had  to 
take  flight  hi  disguise ;  that  a  popular  ministry  had  been  ap- 
pointed, and  that,  this  news  reaching  Berlin,  the  absolutist 
King,  having  at  first  in  his  usual  way  tried  to  suppress  a 
popular  rising  by  high-sounding  phrases  of  double  meaning, 
had  finally  after  a  bloody  battle  hi  the  streets  of  Berlin, 
yielded  everything,  had  called  in  a  Liberal  ministry,  had 
humiliated  himself  before  the  people,  had  ridden  through 
the  principal  streets  of  Berlin  with  a  black,  red  and  gold 
scarf  round  his  breast  and  behind  him  a  banner  of  the  Ger- 
man colors,  had  ordered  the  troops  out  of  Berlin  and  de- 
clared that  he  would  place  himself  at  the  head  of  Germany; 
that  Prince  William,  the  future  Emperor,  who  was  supposed 
to  have  advised  against  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops,  had  to 
save  himself  from  the  popular  furor  by  a  flight  to  England; 
I  must  confess  my  enthusiasm  felt  no  bounds. 

It  is  all  a  dream,  I  often  thought.  What  a  magical, 
instantaneous  transformation  of  scene!  A  King,  who  only  a 
few  months  ago  had  openly  declared  that  his  crown  was  from 
God,  who  had  supplicated  vengeance  on  him  who  would  touch 
it,  who  had  said  that  between  heaven  and  his  people  no  writ- 
ten document  should  come,  had  now  to  descend  with  his  Queen 
from  his  palace  and  look  upon  the  corpses  of  those  who  had 


THE  REVOLUTIONS  OF  1848  517 

fallen  on  the  barricades,  the  Queen  in  mourning  and  swoon- 
ing at  the  appalling  sight !  And  Metternich  who  had  swayed, 
or  at  least  supposed  he  had  swayed,  the  European  continent, 
fleeing  so  rapidly  that  he  even  left  his  wife  to  make  her  escape 
alone  as  best  she  could,  traveling  in  utmost  haste  without  even 
an  attendant,  had  sought  shelter  in  England,  the  only  spot 
where  he  thought  himself  safe  in  Europe ! 

The  diary  of  his  beautiful,  accomplished  and  noble  wife, 
Melanie  Zichy-Ferraris,  published  with  Metternich 's  Memoirs, 
cannot  be  read  without  some  emotion,  even  by  a  Republican 
and  by  one  who  felt  no  pity  for  the  Austrian  Chancellor. 

Melanie  was  the  Queen  of  Austria  in  Vienna.  No 
crowned  head  ever  went  to  that  capital  without  first  paying 
his  respects  to  that  lady,  often  before  the  imperial  family 
were  called  on.  The  Czar  of  Russia,  the  King  and  the  Princes 
of  Prussia  and  all  the  minor  princes  paid  her  the  homage 
which  her  beauty,  her  sweet  temper,  her  grace  and  her  many 
accomplishments  entitled  her  to.  And  yet  it  appears  from 
her  diary  that  the  moment  her  husband  had  abdicated,  she 
saw  herself  abandoned.  Nobody  seemed  to  have  known  her. 
A  few  domestics  alone  remained  faithful.  Poorly  clad  and 
without  any  baggage,  she  drove  in  a  cab  to  the  Northern  Rail- 
road station.  She  does  not  whine,  she  does  not  moralize.  A 
few  words,  however,  from  the  depth  of  her  heart,  give  us  a 
very  vivid  picture  of  the  situation. 

One  thing  may  be  said  for  Metternich.  Vain  and  self- 
glorifying  as  he  appears  in  his  Memoirs,  tedious  and  com- 
monplace as  he  appears  in  his  dispatches,  and  his  reports 
full  of  damnable  reiteration,  his  family  letters  show  him  to 
have  had  not  only  a  most  tender  heart  for  wife  and  children 
but  also  a  refined  taste  for  the  beauties  of  nature  and  art. 

THE  GERMAN  PARLIAMENT  OF  1848 

Before  the  regular  Parliament  met,  May  18,  1848,  the 
party  of  the  Preliminary  Convention,  as  it  was  called,  which 
wanted  its  government  to  remain  in  force  until  the  meeting 


518  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

of  the  main  Parliament,  with  an  executive  and  a  Parliamen- 
tary army,  of  which  Frederick  Hecker  was  to  be  the  leader, 
having  been  out-voted  and  disappointed,  organized  in  Baden  a 
Republican  rising.  Under  the  circumstances,  and  considering 
the  prevailing  weakness  of  the  German  governments,  it  would 
have  been  best  perhaps  to  have  taken  time  by  the  forelock  and 
to  have  kept  the  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Preliminary  Con- 
vention, or  Vorparlament.  But  failing  in  that,  and  after- 
giving  time  to  the  governments  to  recover  from  their  first 
fright,  and  to  come  to  an  understanding  amongst  themselves, 
a  revolution  under  the  banner  of  a  republic,  a  name  still  to 
the  mass  of  the  people  an  object  of  terror,  was  a  most  unfor- 
tunate step,  and  might  be  considered  as  one  of  the  first  causes 
of  the  failure  of  obtaining  for  Germany  that  union  and  liberty 
so  long  the  goal  of  all  its  intelligent  and  patriotic  citizens. 
The  reactionary  party  could  have  wished  for  nothing  better 
than  this  Republican  rising,  for  by  it  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  moderate  Liberals  were  thrown  into  its  ranks.  Still,  this 
movement  must  not  be  hastily  and  too  severely  judged.  * '  The 
times  were  out  of  joint."  The  spirit  of  liberty  grew  like  a 
hurricane  through  the  world.  Enthusiasts  like  Hecker  and 
Struve  might  well  suppose  that  it  was  only  necessary  to  set 
the  ball  a-rolling,  and  that  in  its  course  it  would  turn  over 
all  thrones  and  make  room  for  a  republic. 

"While  in  the  United  States  the  striking  for  a  republic 
was  almost  universally  hailed  with  great  approbation,  even  in 
Germany  many  who  condemned  it  were  yet  fascinated  by  the 
personality  of  Hecker.  His  integrity,  his  willingness  to  sac- 
rifice his  all,  his  audacity,  his  fiery  eloquence,  his  amiable 
social  qualities,  gave  him  an  immense  popularity,  which  hardly 
decreased  even  after  his  free  corps  under  the  lead  of  Sigel, 
who  had  been  an  officer  in  the  Baden  army,  had  been  quickly 
defeated,  and  he  himself  had  become  an  exile  in  Switzerland. 
His  fine,  manly  appearance,  his  open  and  youthful  counte- 
nance, showing  energy  and  executive  power,  his  large  blue  eyes 


THE  REVOLUTIONS  OF  1848  .     519 

and  long  golden  hair,  did  very  much  to  make  him  a  popular, 
I  might  say,  a  legendary  hero. 

I  deeply  sympathized  with  my  antagonist  of  the  Heidel- 
berg dueling  ground,  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  sent  me 
greetings  through  brother  Charles  in  1846.  Ever  since  I  had 
left  Germany  I  had,  of  course,  always  felt  a  fervent  wish  to 
see  my  family  again ;  but  owing  to  the  condition  of  the  coun- 
try in  a  political  and  even  a  social  point  of  view,  I  cannot 
say  that  before  this  I  had  felt  homesick.  But  now  an  amnesty 
to  all  political  prisoners  and  exiles  having  been  amongst  the 
first  concessions  made  by  all  the  German  governments,  so  that 
there  was  nothing  to  prevent  me  from  returning,  I  felt  some- 
thing like  the  pangs  of  \Heimweh. 

There  was  my  old  city  of  Frankfort,  the  national  tri- 
eolored  flag  waving  from  the  towers  of  the  German  Bund,  of 
which  under  the  same  flag  we  had  intended  to  possess  our- 
selves on  the  night  of  the  third  of  April,  now  made  the  seat  of 
the  first  Parliament,  in  which  nearly  six  hundred  people 
formed  an  assemblage  that  embodied  more  science  and  scholar- 
ship than  any  similar  one  either  before  or  after  in  any  coun- 
try, and  in  which  sat  many  of  the  noblest,  most  distinguished 
and  most  eloquent  men  of  Germany.  If  there  had  been  a 
greater  proportion  of  practical  and  experienced  statesmen 
among  them,  perhaps  success  and  not  failure  might  have  been 
the  result. 

Many  of  my  old  fellow-students  and  friends  who  had 
returned  from  their  exile  in  England,  France  and  Switzer- 
land, were  in  the  Parliament  or  in  the  renovated  Bundes- 
tag, amongst  them  being  my  ever  true  and  faithful  friend 
from  Jena  and  Heidelberg,  Henry  Rueder,  Hude,  another 
warm  friend  from  Jena  and  Heidelberg,  Titus  from  Wuerz- 
burg,  and  several  others.  Jordan,  Von  Klosen,  Schueler,  with 
all  of  whom  I  had  come  into  close  contact  before  the  third  of 
April,  were  in  the  Parliament.  Jucho,  one  of  my  earliest 
friends  in  Frankfort,  was  a  member  and  first  secretary  of  the 
Parliament.  My  young  favorite  in  Heidelberg,  Max  Von 


520  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Biegeleben,  was  a  secretary  in  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
Savoye,  Minister  from  France  to  the  Parliament,  and  Ven- 
edey,  who  protected  me  in  Strassburg,  also  had  a  seat. 

PLANS  OF  RETURNING  TO  GERMANY 

The  desire  to  be  a  personal  witness  of  what  seemed  to  be 
the  regeneration  of  Germany  became  almost  irresistible.  But 
then,  what  could  I  do  if  there?  As  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  I  could  act  only  as  a  private  person ;  as  such  I  might 
perhaps  have  exercised  some  little  influence.  Pauline  had 
written  me  early  in  March  that  the  Frankfort  government  had 
not  only  granted  a  full  amnesty  to  all  political  refugees,  but 
had  reinstated  them  in  all  their  political  and  civil  rights.  But 
anticipating  that  I  might  wish  to  return,  and  though  she  con- 
sidered that  this  would  be  the  greatest  joy  reserved  to  her 
in  her  life,  clear-headed  as  she  was,  she  begged  me  not  to 
come,  though  at  that  time  everything  had  the  most  roseate 
view  and  princes  and  people  seemed  alike  enthusiastic  for  the 
erection  of  a  free  and  united  Germany. 

My  letters  expressing  my  strong  desire  to  come  back, 
which  I  had  written  about  the  same  time  I  received  her  letter, 
were  answered  in  May  by  Charles  and  Pauline  in  a  way  which 
did  great  credit  to  their  insight  and  foresight,  considering  that 
the  German  people  at  that  time  were  in  their  political  honey- 
moon. Charles  wrote: 

"I  might,  in  letters  of  fire,  warn  you  not  to  come.  Don't 
leave  your  free  sphere  of  action,  and  be  glad  that  you  can 
see  our  political  condition  from  a  bird's-eye  view,  and  that 
you  are  not  condemned  to  live  in  it.  In  four  weeks  you  would 
be  an  exile  again.  The  revolution  has  halted  half  way,  and 
instead  of  deposing  all  princes  as  they  deserve  and  as  they 
themselves  expected,  they  have  already  shown  a  reactionary 
disposition.  Hecker's  insensate  attempt  has  given  them  a 
pretext  for  suppressing  revolutionary  movements,  and  the 
elections  for  Parliament  have  resulted  in  Bavaria,  Prussia, 
Tyrol,  in  great  part,  badly,  and  we  are  richly  blessed  with 
priests  and  government  officers." 


THE  REVOLUTIONS  OF  1848  521 

And  Pauline: 

' '  Oh,  dear  G-ustav,  don 't  give  way  to  homesickness !  Noble- 
hearted  men  and  women  there  are  but  few.  The  mass  of  the 
people  are  rude  and  ignorant,  and  the  majority  of  the  intelli- 
gent are  cowardly.  We  are  morally  dead.  The  men  have 
died  of  egotism  and  pleasure-seeking,  and  the  women  of  dress 
and  vanity  or  of  house-keeping  cares.  Enthusiasm  turns 
into  curiosity  —  and  curiosity  into  anxiety  for  the  loss  of 
one's  silver  plate.  To  most  of  our  Frankfort  people  a  Re- 
publican is  one  who  steals  the  linen  from  the  clothes-line  and 
every  man  poorly  dressed  is  to  them  canaille.  You  have 
spoken  of  the  ' '  Ark  of  Liberty, ' '  which  you  Americans  might 
be  able  to  teach.  When  men  can  be  elected  to  Parliament 

like  and  ,  commonplace  people,  there  is 

no  place  for  you ;  there  your  Ark  of  Liberty  is  a  pearl  which 
had  better  remain  in  its  shell  than  be  wasted. ' ' 

Before,  however,  I  had  received  these  letters  —  it  took 
from  four  to  six  weeks  to  get  letters  —  I  had  hit  upon  an- 
other plan.  I  was  aware  that  I  could  not  be  of  any  particular 
use  at  that  time.  But  to  be  near  the  great  theatre  of  action 
in  Europe  was  still  my  anxious  wish.  I  thought  that  if  I 
could  obtain  a  diplomatic  position,  I  might  in  the  first  place 
be  able  to  give  interesting  information  to  our  government,  and 
in  the  second  watch  an  opportunity  of  entering  into  the  po- 
litical strife.  I  wrote  to  that  effect  to  Senator  Breese,  who 
at  once  saw  the  President.  There  was  a  sort  of  a  vacancy. 
Our  Minister  to  Belgium  had  come  to  the  United  States  on 
leave  of  absence  and  was  about  to  resign,  but  had  not  quite 
made  up  his  mind.  I  would  have  to  wait  an  indefinite  time. 
I  had  suggested  to  be  made  secretary  of  legation  to  the 
Minister  who  would  be  sent  to  Frankfort.  But  Donelson, 
the  Minister  to  Berlin,  had  been  charged  to  take  that  mission, 
and  he  needed  no  additional  secretary.  While  matters  were 
thus  pending  in  uncertainty,  Judge  Breese  wrote  me  that 
the  only  vacant  place  of  an  official  character  was  the  Con- 
sulate at  Hamburg,  which  he  thought  was  a  very  important 
station;  and,  before  I  had  time  to  consider  the  matter,  my 
name  was  sent  to  the  Senate  and  the  appointment  confirmed. 


522  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

The  news  reached  me  while  I  was  holding  court  in  Vandalia, 
some  time  in  May.  Usually  I  resolve  quickly,  but  though  I 
thought  the  office  too  insignificant,  my  longing  to  be  in  Europe 
just  now  made  me  hesitate.  Besides,  Sophie's  wishes  and 
judgment  had  to  be  consulted.  So  I  did  not  accept  nor  de- 
cline for  some  time. 

I  wrote  home,  however,  that  there  was  a  strong  proba- 
bility of  my  coming.  As  things  went  on,  however,  and  re- 
ceiving such  information  as  the  letters  from  my  family  and 
from  other  friends  conveyed,  and  studying  very  closely  the 
proceedings  of  the  Parliament,  which,  with  numerous  ad- 
dresses, pamphlets  and  newspapers,  were  sent  to  me  very  reg- 
ularly by  my  brother,  I  became  convinced  that  the  cause  of 
German  liberty  and  unity  was  doomed,  that  too  many  faults 
had  already  been  committed,  that  instead  of  witnessing  the 
victory  of  the  Liberal  cause,  I  should  see  the  sad  spectacle  of 
a  catastrophe.  So  some  time  in  the  latter  part  of  June  I 
declined,  and  my  declination,  although  it  destroyed  the  hope 
of  a  meeting  with  brother  and  sister,  of  which  they  would 
have  been  so  glad,  was  fully  approved  by  them,  things  having 
grown  worse  from  day  to  day. 

These  various  revolutions  in  Europe  attracted  the  great- 
est interest  and  attention  here.  Public  meetings  crowded 
upon  one  another  expressing  sympathy  with  the  Liberal  move- 
ments in  France,  Germany,  Hungary,  Ireland,  and  Schleswig- 
Holstein.  Owing  to  the  large  German-American  population 
the  greatest  interest  centered  upon  Germany.  The  German 
press  drew  its  information  from  papers  published  in  Ger- 
many and  from  German  correspondents.  But  the  American 
press  necessarily  used  the  English  journals  as  their  sources 
of  information.  From  the  very  start  English  statesmen  as 
well  as  the  English  press,  particularly  the  "Times,"  fearing  a 
rivalship  in  commerce  and  in  power  from  a  strong  and  united 
Germany,  looked  upon  the  reformation  with  distrust  and  with 
an  unfriendly  eye.  In  the  question  of  Schleswig-Holstein, 
which  claimed  its  independence  from  Denmark,  the  English 


THE  REVOLUTIONS  OF  1848  523 

government  was  openly  hostile  to  Germany.  Hence  all  re- 
ports of  German  affairs,  of  whatever  character,  were  highly 
colored.  As  I  was  a  careful  reader  of  Continental  papers, 
French  and  German,  was  in  possession  of  many  documents 
and  was  kept  well  posted  by  private  correspondence,  I  be- 
lieved myself  to  be  somewhat  competent  to  convey  correct  in- 
formation and  to  set  aright  the  innumerable  current  misrep- 
resentations of  the  English  press.  I  therefore  went  to  work 
and  published,  during  the  summer  and  fall,  a  series  of  articles 
on  German  affairs  in  the  "Missouri  Republican,"  which  are 
amongst  my  papers,  and  which,  I  understood,  contributed, 
within  the  sphere  of  this  publication,  very  much  to  a  better 
understanding  of  the  weighty  events  during  that  period. 

THE  NEW  ILLINOIS   CONSTITUTION 

A  good  deal  of  my  time  I  also  devoted  to  a  commentary 
on  the  new  Constitution,  which  had  been  submitted  by  the 
Constituent  Convention  of  1847,  of  which  William  C.  Kinney 
and  George  Bunsen  of  St.  Clair  County  had  been  members, 
to  the  people  for  their  approbation.  The  popular  vote  was  to 
be  taken  on  the  6th  of  March,  1848.  I  was  opposed  to  it  for 
various  reasons.  It  was  three  times  as  long  as  the  old  one, 
contained  many  articles  which  were  purely  of  a  legislative 
nature,  fixed  at  the  lowest  possible  sum  the  salaries  of  all 
officers  for  all  time  at  a  period  when  everything,  owing  to  the 
recent  financial  crash,  had  fallen  to  the  lowest  point,  made 
not  only  the  judges,  but  all  State  officers  elective  by  the  peo- 
ple, and,  what  was  worst  of  all,  changed  the  State  elections 
from  August  to  November,  so  that  they  came  on  the  same  day 
as  the  Presidential  election,  in  consequence  of  which  the  in- 
terest of  the  State  in  having  good  officers  was  swallowed  up 
by  and  made  dependent  upon  the  Presidential  question,  to 
the  great  detriment  of  the  welfare  of  the  State,  as  the  issue 
has  sufficiently  proved. 

Ex-Governor  Ford,  Senators  Breese  and  Semple,  nearly 
all  our  members  of  Congress,  and,  in  fact,  very  many  intelli- 


524  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

gent  statesmen  opposed  it.  But  it  was  adopted,  as  it  received 
almost  the  entire  Whig  vote  on  account  of  the  elective  fran- 
chise being  taken  away  from  all  persons  not  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  which  class  had  almost  unanimously  voted  the 
Democratic  ticket,  and  as  it  received  also  a  good  many  votes 
from  Democrats  who  were  captivated  by  some  articles  of  it 
which  were  plausible  improvements,  though  they  turned  out 
to  be  delusive,  or  who  were  hunting  for  the  offices  which,  by 
the  adoption  of  the  new  Constitution,  had  all  to  be  refilled. 
It  happened,  however,  as  it  does  frequently  in  debating  so- 
cieties, that  the  question  was  decided  against  the  opponents 
of  the  Constitution,  while  their  arguments  would  have  re- 
ceived the  approbation  of  an  enlightened  tribunal. 

I  published  a  series  of  articles  on  the  subject  in  the 
"Springfield  Register,"  which  were  copied  in  many  papers. 
In  the  Belleville  papers  I  carried  on  a  kind  of  guerilla  war- 
fare with  some  small  fry  —  such  as  William  H.  Underwood, 
a  candidate  for  the  new  Circuit  Judgeship  created  by  the 
Constitution. 

Under  the  new  Constitution,  the  salary  of  the  Supreme 
Judge  was  reduced  to  the  pitiful  sum  of  $1,200.00.  Of  course 
I  at  once  declared  that  I  would  not  become  a  candidate.  My 
practice  before  I  had  been  Supreme  Judge  had  been  worth 
double  that  amount,  and  I  was  certain  that  at  the  bar  I 
would  soon  earn  three  or  four-fold  the  judge's  salary. 

On  my  return  home  from  the  circuit  I  at  once  went  to 
work  to  carry  out  our  plan  conceived  as  early  as  1836,  when 
I  bought  the  land  then  adjoining  the  city  limits  on  the  south- 
east. I  made  a  plan  of  building  myself  a  house.  But  it  was 
late  in  the  fall  before  I  made  the  contract,  and  the  house  was 
not  finished  until  the  spring  of  1849. 

How  correctly  I  and  my  family  had  judged  German  af- 
fairs, the  events  in  the  fall  of  1848  showed.  The  Parliament 
fell  into  a  hopeless  state  of  confusion.  In  Berlin  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly  was  adjourned,  Berlin  was  declared  in  a 
state  of  siege,  and  the  King  published  a  constitution  of  his 


THE  REVOLUTIONS  OF  1848  525 

own  free  will  and  according  to  his  own  notions,  yet  one 
which  under  the  circumstances  was  better  than  none  at  all. 
In  Austria,  Vienna,  after  three  days'  bloody  fighting,  was 
taken  by  Windischgraetz,  the  leaders  of  the  Liberal  party 
fled  for  their  lives,  and  those  who  were  not  so  fortunate  were 
shot,  after  being  sentenced  by  a  court-martial.  Even  Robert 
Blum  and  Julius  Froebel,  members  of  the  German  Parlia- 
ment, who  happened  to  be  in  Vienna,  were  condemned  to 
death,  and  Blum  executed  while  Froebel  was  pardoned.  The 
Austrian  Constituent  Assembly  was  first  removed  from 
Vienna,  then  dissolved,  and  the  Emperor  published  a  con- 
stitution for  all  Austrian  states,  which  at  once  put  an  end 
to  German  unity  as  far  as  German  Austria  was  concerned. 

THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1848 

In  the  United  States  the  election  turned  against  the 
Democrats.  General  Cass,  the  Democratic  candidate,  was 
beaten  by  General  Taylor,  the  Whig  candidate,  owing  in 
part  to  a  split  in  the  Democratic  party. 

In  anticipation  of  a  treaty  with  Mexico,  by  which  Mex- 
ican territory  might  be  acquired,  President  Polk  had  in  1846 
asked  Congress  to  appropriate  two  millions  of  dollars.  When 
a  bill  to  that  effect  came  before  the  house,  David  Wilmot 
of  Pennsylvania,  moved  a  proviso  to  the  bill,  that  in  any 
territory  so  acquired  slavery  should  never  exist.  Now  in 
fact  the  proviso  was  unnecessary,  and  it  was  so  urged 
because  slavery  had  been  abolished  years  before  by  the 
Mexican  government  and  did  not  exist,  so  that  any  Mexican 
territory  acquired  by  us  was  free,  and  no  one  at  the  time  pre- 
tended that  Congress  then  had  the  right  to  introduce  slavery 
into  any  State  or  Territory.  The  appropriation  with  the  pro- 
viso was  passed  by  a  large  majority  in  the  House,  and  would 
have  been  passed  in  the  Senate,  but  failed  there  for  want  of 
time.  When,  after  the  peace  of  1848,  an  appropriation  was 
passed  for  paying  Mexico  certain  sums  for  the  large  Mexican 
territory  ceded  to  us  (New  Mexico,  California,  Arizona) ,  and 


MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  Wilmot  Proviso  was  moved,  it  met  with  decided  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  Southern  and  some  Northern  Democrats, 
and  a  new  party  was  formed  in  the  North  called  the  Free 
Soil  party,  consisting  of  Northern  Whigs  and  a  good  many 
Northern  Democrats,  and  of  the  Abolitionists,  who  at  Buf- 
falo nominated  Van  Buren,  a  Free  Soil  candidate,  for  Presi- 
dent and  Charles  Francis  Adams  for  Vice-President.  The 
Free  Soilers  carried  New  York  and  thereby  defeated  Cass. 

If  I  had  received  any  diplomatic  or  even  consular  posi- 
tion in  Germany  it  would  have  been  short-lived,  as  the  Whigs 
of  course  removed  at  once  all  Democratic  officers  when  they 
got  into  power,  March,  1849. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

The  Years  1849-50 

General  Shields  returned  to  Belleville  late  in  the  fall. 
He  was  enthusiastically  received.  He  had  concluded  to  be- 
come a  candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate  to  be  elected 
by  the  next  Legislature  in  January,  1849.  Breese  was  also 
a  candidate  for  reelection.  Both  of  course  expected  my  sup- 
port. Being  still  on  the  bench,  my  term  not  expiring  before 
the  end  of  the  year,  I  had  a  good  excuse  to  abstain  from  any 
public  demonstration  for  either.  I  was  of  course  for  Shields 
on  personal  grounds;  but  Breese  had  shown  such  unvariable, 
I  might  say,  effusive  friendship  for  me,  had  interested  him- 
self so  much  for  me  but  lately  in  my  endeavor  to  obtain  a 
diplomatic  position,  that  it  was  very  hard  for  me  to  take  a 
decided  stand  against  him.  He  was  very  able,  had  distin- 
guished himself  in  the  Senate,  and  I  thought  he  was  really 
better  qualified  for  the  place  than  Shields,  were  it  only  for 
the  great  dignity  which  he  in  every  station  showed  to  a 
most  remarkable  extent.  But  I  confined  myself  to  a  benevolent 
neutrality.  It  is  amusing  to  read  the  letters  I  received  from 
these  gentlemen  during  their  canvass  for  the  office.  Each 
one  tried  to  persuade  me  that  his  opponent  was  eminently 
selfish  and  would  not  show  any  gratitude  for  his  supporters 
after  success. 

Now  I  have  never  doubted  that  high  ambition  is  hardly 
ever  found  disconnected  from  a  good  deal  of  egotism.  But 
Breese  was  really  very  selfish.  A  little  incident,  happening, 
however,  a  few  years  later,  may  serve  as  an  illustration. 
Breese  and  I  had  been  at  Springfield  on  some  occasion.  There 
was  no  railroad  to  St.  Louis,  and  the  usual  way  to  get  down 


528  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

there  was  by  taking  the  cars  from  Springfield  to  Naples  on 
what  was  then  called  the  Northern  Cross  Railroad  and  then 
catching  a  boat  going  from  Peoria  to  St.  Louis.  "When  we 
got  to  Naples  the  regular  packet  had  just  gone  by  Naples,  and 
we  had  to  wait  for  some  time  for  a  stray  boat.  In  a  couple 
of  hours  a  little  stern-wheeler  made  its  appearance  and  we 
got  on  board,  took  a  state-room  together,  played  a  game  of 
euchre  and  then  retired.  Breese  being  the  older  man  and 
very  heavy,  weighing  about  two  hundred  pounds,  I  of  course 
offered  him  the  lower  berth ;  but  he  very  politely  declined  and 
insisted  upon  my  taking  it.  In  the  morning  at  breakfast  he 
said:  "Koerner,  do  you  know  why  I  took  the  upper  berth?" 
"No.  I  don't,"  I  replied.  "This  old  boat,  you  know,"  said 
he,  "is  a  miserable  shaky  concern,  and  in  case  the  upper  berth 
had  broken  down,  you  would  have  fallen  on  me."  Both  of 
us  laughed  and  that  was  the  end  of  it. 

I  held  my  last  court  in  Montgomery  County.  In  all  the 
counties,  meetings  were  held  by  the  bar  and  complimentary 
resolutions  passed,  expressing  their  regret  at  my  leaving  the 
bench.  I  had  to  make  speeches  in  return.  Of  course,  much 
of  this  is  only  conventional;  but  it  does  not  always  happen, 
and  on  this  circuit  it  was  a  novelty,  very  gratifying  to  me. 

HECKER 

In  October,  Hecker  had  arrived  in  New  York  and  received 
a  very  flattering  public  ovation.  His  having  fought  for 
a  Republican  government  made  him  of  course  very  popular 
here.  A  similar  ovation,  I  believe,  was  extended  to  him  in 
Cincinnati.  His  arrival  was  expected  daily  in  St.  Louis. 

Returning  late  in  the  evening  from  Hillsborough,  Sophie 
told  me  that  a  gentleman  had  called  to  see  me  and  that  she 
had  told  him  that  I  would  certainly  be  back,  but  probably 
not  before  eight  or  nine  o'clock.  I  had  hardly  been  in  the 
room  a  few  minutes  when  there  was  a  knock  at  the  door,  and 
Heeker  entered,  embraced  and  kissed  me,  and  addressed  me 
with  "Thou"  as  an  old  friend.  My  wife  and  children  were 
delighted;  for  in  spite  of  his  ill-timed  rising,  he  was  still  a 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  529 

sort  of  an  idol  with  the  liberal-minded.  We  soon  entered  into 
a  lively  conversation,  and  his  extraordinary  conversational 
powers,  his  wit  and  humor,  intermixed  with  pathos,  his  hand- 
some presence  were  apt  to  fascinate  any  person.  He  stayed 
until  late  in  the  night.  Belleville  he  had  made  his  head- 
quarters. He  had  an  engagement  the  next  week  in  St.  Louis, 
to  make  a  public  speech. 

With  him  came  his  brother-in-law,  Frederick  Tiedemann. 
son  of  the  distinguished  Professor  Tiedemann,  at  Heidelberg, 
who  was  compromised  in  the  revolution,  and  Julius  Schoen- 
inger,  from  Wuertemberg,  who  had  been  Hecker's  adjutant. 
They  took  lodgings  at  George  Neuhoff's  hotel.  Hecker  at  once 
concluded  to  take  a  farm,  if  possible  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Belleville.  At  his  request,  his  friends  and  I  visited  with  him 
several  farms  which  I  knew  were  for  sale.  We  went  as  far 
down  as  the  northern  part  of  Monroe  County.  Some  seemed 
to  please  him,  but  no  definite  decision  was  formed.  Dr.  Ro- 
man, who  was  agent  for  a  large  farm,  some  three  miles  south- 
east of  Lebanon,  invited  Mr.  Hecker  to  look  at  it.  I  went 
along.  The  farm  contained  some  three  hundred  acres,  part 
of  it  very  rich  prairie  and  part  timber.  There  was  a  large 
brick  dwelling-house  upon  it,  but  the  place  belonged  to  sev- 
eral heirs  who  did  not  live  there,  was  in  a  rather  neglected 
condition  and  the  house  very  much  dilapidated.  The  price, 
however,  was  reasonably  low,  and  after  several  inspections 
by  Hecker  and  his  friends,  he,  after  some  months,  bought  the 
farm,  enlarged  it,  and  lived  on  it  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

After  he  had  addressed  the  people  in  St.  Louis,  the 
Belleville  citizens  prepared  an  ovation  for  him.  The  mayor 
of  the  town  welcomed  him  in  a  flattering  speech,  and  Hecker 
replied  at  some  length.  There  was  a  large  and  enthusiastic 
audience  present  at  the  court  house.  But,  to  tell  the  truth, 
there  was  some  disappointment.  The  expectation  of  the  hear- 
ers had  been  raised  to  the  highest  pitch,  owing  to  the  great 
reputation  Hecker  was  known  to  have  had  in  Germany.  The 
American  press,  as  is  usual  on  such  occasions,  had  also  spoken 


530  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

in  the  most  fulsome  terms  of  the  speeches  made  by  him  since 
his  arrival  here.  Of  course,  he  enunciated  noble  thoughts, 
and  gave  a  most  vivid  description  of  the  oppressions  under 
which  the  people  had  suffered,  of  the  almost  magical  and  in- 
stantaneous rising  of  the  people  in  March,  and  of  their  suc- 
cess in  obtaining  long  wished-for  reforms.  Then  he  showed 
that  the  people  had  been  too  generous,  that  they  relied  on 
the  sincerity  of  the  promises  made  by  the  princes,  had  given 
them  time  to  get  over  their  fears,  and  that  the  latter  con- 
spired together  to  undo  what  had  been  extorted  from  them; 
that  recent  events  at  Bern  and  Vienna  had  made  the  unity 
and  liberty  of  Germany  almost  impossible ;  that  'unless  the 
people  would  rise  again  and  obtain  it  by  a  revolution  more 
radical  and  far  more  sanguinary  than  the  one  of  March,  the 
cause  of  liberty  was  lost.  He  appealed  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States  to  lend  all  their  sympathy  and  moral  influence 
to  the  cause  of  the  German  Liberals ;  saying,  that  a  union 
of  the  separate  States  under  one  head,  while  they  were  still 
under  their  sovereign  Kings  and  Princes,  was  an  absurdity, 
and  that  a  federal  government  could  be  built  up  only  of  Re- 
publican states,  after  the  model  of  the  United  States  and 
Switzerland. 

While  the  substance  of  his  address  was  calculated  to  rivet 
the  attention  of  the  people  and  prove  him  to  be  a  man  of 
superior  mind,  the  delivery  of  it  spoiled  a  great  deal  of  its 
effect.  Hecker  was  not  master  of  his  emotions,  which  a  good 
orator  ought  always  to  be ;  he  became  passionate,  losing  there- 
by sometimes  the  thread  of  his  argument;  while  there  was  a 
halt  now  and  then,  owing  to  his  being  deeply  affected  by  his 
own  words.  His  strong  South-German  accent,  while  it  gave 
a  certain  raciness  to  his  conversation,  deprived  his  oration 
somewhat  of  dignity.  Our  people  here  had  been  accustomed 
to  listen  at  the  tribune  and  at  the  bar  to  very  fluent  speakers, 
fluent  often  because  the  matter  of  their  speeches  was  not  very 
weighty,  and  to  orators  who  always  retained  their  self-pos- 
session. 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  531 

There  was  every  element  of  a  great  orator  in  Hecker; 
profound  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of  jurisprudence  and 
of  history,  a  strong  imagination,  which  supplied  him  with 
apt  and  pointed  illustrations  and  comparisons,  a  ready  wit, 
and,  what  is  best,  an  always  honest  purpose.  He  was  a  man 
of  genius.  What  he  lacked  was  control  over  his  feelings.  He 
was  rather  a  slave  of  his  emotions,  not  their  master.  An  acute 
laAvyer  and  in  his  own  private  affairs  prudent  and  practical, 
his  judgment  on  public  matters  was  often  at  fault.  What  he 
ardently  wished,  he  saw  in  his  imagination  really  existing. 
When,  for  instance,  old  Mr.  Hilgard,  Hecker  and  I,  in  Heck- 
er's  room  at  Neuhoff's  Hotel,  some  time  in  November,  specu- 
lated on  the  election  of  President  then  impending  in  France, 
Mr.  Hilgard  was  quite  certain  that  Lamartine,  the  noble,  the 
eloquent,  the  enthusiastic  and  yet  moderate  statesman  would 
succeed.  Hecker  correctly  enough  thought  Mr.  Hilgard  very 
much  mistaken.  "No!"  said  he,  "Cavaignac  will  be  the  man. 
He  is  I'epee  de  la  France,  and  the  army  will  be  all  for  him. 
What  do  you  think  about  it?"  asked  Hecker,  addressing  me. 
"Why!  Louis  Napoleon  will  be  the  man,"  I  answered.  Both 
ridiculed  me,  Hecker  saying  that  Louis  Napoleon  was  a  moon- 
calf, an  idle  dreamer.  In  a  few  days  we  learned  that  Louis 
Napoleon  had  got  five  and  a  half  millions  of  votes,  Cavaignac 
one  and  one-half,  and  Lamartine  about  one  hundred  thou- 
sand. 

THE  REVOLUTION  IN  BADEN 

In  March,  1849,  the  new  Constitution  for  Germany  had 
been  adopted  and  the  King  of  Prussia  had  been  elected  Ger- 
man Emperor,  but  he  declined  and  gave  the  people  to  under- 
stand that  he  could  receive  the  crown  only  from  the  sovereign 
Princes  of  Germany  and  with  great  modifications  of  the  Con- 
stitution. This  was  the  commencement  of  the  end.  The  Prus- 
sian Legislature  had  voted  in  favor  of  the  Constitution,  and 
twenty-eight  of  the  German  Princes  had  accepted  it  as  bind- 
ing upon  them.  But  the  Kings  of  Prussia,  of  Saxony,  Bavaria 


532  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

and  Hanover  stood  aloof.  The  King  of  Wuertemberg  was 
forced  to  accept  it.  A  perfect  chaos  was  the  consequence. 

When  it  was  known  that  Prussia  would  not  take  the  lead 
and  that  it  had  declared  the  Constitution  as  not  binding,  and 
Austria,  Bavaria  and  Hanover  took  the  same  course,  the  peo- 
ple rose  against  their  governments,  and  first  in  Dresden.  The 
King  and  his  ministers  fled.  The  Constitutionalists  were  mas- 
ters of  the  city;  but  Prussia  sent  two  regiments  of  the  guard 
to  retake  Dresden,  which  they  did  after  two  days'  severe  fight- 
ing on  the  barricades.  Then  Rhein-Hesse  and  Rhenish  Ba- 
varia declared  for  the  Constitution,  and  also  Baden.  Nearly 
the  whole  Baden  army  joined  the  revolutionists,  as  they  were 
called;  though  it  was  really  the  Kings  and  Princes  who  were 
the  rebels.  But  an  army-corps  of  Prussians  entered  Rhenish 
Bavaria  and  subdued  the  volunteers  under  Willich  and  Blen- 
ker.  Troops  of  Hesse-Nassau  and  Mecklenburg  entered  Baden, 
but  were  at  first  beaten  back  by  the  people's  troops  under 
Sigel.  But  the  main  force  of  the  Liberal  army,  after  gaining 
at  first  some  advantages  under  Mieroslawski,  were  beaten  at 
Waghaeusel  in  a  sanguinary  battle  by  the  Prussians  under 
Prince  William,  the  future  Emperor  of  Germany.  Near 
Rastatt  several  fights  took  place,  Mersy  commanding  a  divis- 
ion. But  finally  Rastatt  had  to  be  surrendered,  July  21st. 
Mieroslawski,  Sigel,  and  Mersy,  who  were  outside  of  the  city, 
made  good  their  retreat  into  Switzerland;  Lorenz  Bretano, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  provisional  government  of  Baden, 
and  Tiedemann,  a  brother  of  our  Fred  Tiedemann,  command- 
ant of  Rastatt,  were  court-martialled  and  shot,  as  were  many 
of  the  leaders  of  the  rising.  Carl  Schurz,  who  was  in  Rastatt, 
was  confined  in  the  casemates  of  the  fortress,  but  made  an  al- 
most miraculous  escape.  Godfrey  Kinkel,  professor  at  Bonn, 
had  been  taken  prisoner  before  in  a  skirmish  with  the  Prus- 
sians. 

Before  these  later  events  happened,  it  was  clear  to  most 
intelligent  men,  except  to  the  professors  and  doctrinaires  of 
the  German  Parliament,  that  there  soon  must  be  a  conflict 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  533 

between  the  people  they  represented  and  the  Kings  and 
Princes.  The  breaking  up  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  as 
early  as  November,  the  banishing  of  the  Austrian  Constitu- 
tional Convention  from  Vienna  to  Moravia,  the  repeated  de- 
clarations of  the  King  of  Prussia  against  the  authority  of  the 
Frankfort  Parliament,  the  reactionary  measures  against  the 
press  and  the  right  of  meeting  in  public,  left  no  doubt  that 
all  rights  so  readily  obtained  in  March  would  be  lost  again 
unless  the  people  could  be  roused  to  new  efforts  to  maintain 
what  they  had  conquered.  The  idea  of  forming  a  confederacy 
of  thirty  States,  the  Princes  of  which  were  claiming  to  rule 
by  the  grace  of  God  under  one  of  the  Kings  as  presiding  ex- 
ecutive, had,  at  the  start,  seemed  to  be  chimerical  to  most  peo- 
ple who  were  able  to  reason  coolly.  The  only  remedy  was  to 
establish  a  Republic,  either  one  and  indivisible,  or  a  confed- 
erated one,  modelled  after  the  American  or  Swiss  Union. 

AMERICAN  SYMPATHY  WITH  THE  EUROPEAN  REVOLUTIONISTS 

Late  in  1848  and  at  the  commencement  of  1849  the  Ger- 
man press  in  the  United  States  took  the  alarm.  Wherever 
there  were  large  German  populations,  mass-meetings  were 
held,  resolutions  passed  and  addresses  to  the  German  people 
published,  to  be  sent  to  the  Liberal  members  of  Parliament, 
assuring  them  of  the  sympathy  of  the  American  people  and 
exhorting  them  to  strike  for  a  Republican  government.  A 
large  and  very  enthusiastic  meeting  had  taken  place  about 
Christmas  in  St.  Louis,  and  a  very  eloquent  address,  written 
I  believe,  by  William  Palm,  was  adopted. 

St.  Glair  County,  with  its  large  German  population,  could 
not  lag  behind.  On  the  6th  of  January,  1849,  quite  a  large 
meeting  was  held  at  Belleville.  Doctor  Albert  Trapp  presided, 
with  some  vice-presidents;  A.  Dony  and  Dr.  A.  W.  Vincenz 
acting  as  secretaries.  Speeches  were  made,  resolutions  passed, 
and  a  committee  of  seventeen  appointed,  charged  with  draft- 
ing an  address  expressing  the  sentiments  of  the  meeting.  The 
committee  selected  me  to  prepare  the  address,  and  approved 


534  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

it.  It  was  published  in  the  local  papers,  and  several  hundred 
copies  were  sent  to  Frankfort  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Karl  Vogt,  the  celebrated  naturalist,  a  member  of  the  Par- 
liament. 

As  a  sign  of  the  times,  or  "un  document  humain,"  as 
the  present  realistic  school  of  history  and  literature  would 
say,  a  translation  of  the  address  may  find  its  place  here,  to 
be  judged  by  the  stirring  events  then  enacting,  when  "the 
times  were  out  of  joint,"  and  nothing  hardly  was  deemed  too 
visionary. 

"To  the  German  People: 

"Thousands  of  miles  separate  us  from  Germany;  years 
have  passed  since  we  bade  our  native  soil  the  last  fond  adieu ; 
but  neither  distance  nor  time  have  weakened  the  love  we  bear 
to  the  land  of  our  youth.  It  is  owing  to  this  unfading  at- 
tachment to  Germany  and  to  you,  Germans,  that  we  millions 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States  of  German  descent  take  such 
a  deep  interest  in  the  weal  or  woe  of  your  country.  But  this 
interest  does  not  merely  consist  in  watching  attentively  the 
events  in  the  mother  country  and  discussing  them  with  sym- 
pathy. We  are  also  impelled  to  take  part  in  the  work  of  the 
popular  rising  which  you  and  other  people  have  so  stoutly 
undertaken  a  short  time  ago. 

"The  governments  have  often  misused  their  people  to 
put  down  liberal  aspirations  and  to  strengthen  the  chains  of 
other  nations.  The  time  will  come  when  a  free  people  will 
not  suffer  another  one  striving  for  liberty  to  be  crushed ;  but 
the  time  has  not  arrived  yet.  The  citizens  of  one  country  can 
as  yet  only  act  as  individuals,  if  they  want  to  come  to  the 
relief  of  their  brethren  of  another  in  their  conflict  with  ty- 
rants. The  Brotherhood  of  Princes  exists,  and  has  existed  for 
a  long  time.  The  Brotherhood  of  Nations  is  still  a  matter  of 
the  future. 

"We  address  you,  therefore,  as  individuals;  we  act  as 
individuals;  but  consider  that  there  are  several  millions  of 
such  individuals  here  and  that  our  American  fellow-citizens 
almost  unanimously  think  as  we  do.  A  free  people  of  twenty 
millions  has  rejoiced  at  your  rising  in  March  last ;  a  free  peo- 
ple of  twenty  millions  looks  upon  you  with  anxious  expecta- 
tion, whether  you  will  be  equal  to  the  task  which  you  have 
so  courageously  undertaken,  whether  you  are  in  earnest  to 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  535 

enter  the  ranks  of  free  and  great  nations,  or  whether  a  quickly 
evaporated  enthusiasm  or  a  vain  impulse  of  imitation  was  the 
mother  of  your  vernal  deeds. 

"There  may  be  amongst  you  some  who  will  say:  'How 
can  you  assume,  so  long  separated  from  us,  dwelling  in  the 
Far  West  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  to  give  us  advice? 
You  do  not  know  our  circumstances,  you  do  not  know  what 
is  possible  for  us  and  what  is  not.'  Our  answer  is:  We  do 
know  German  affairs,  for  they  have  driven  us  hitherwards. 
We  know  what  is  possible ;  for  we  see  accomplished  here  what 
we  wish  for  you.  We  are  no  better  than  you  are,  but  our 
laws  and  our  institutions  are  better  than  yours. 

"Neither  have  we  expected  to  see  at  once  abolished  upon 
the  first  moment  and  upon  every  spot  of  the  German  soil  the 
idolatry  of  kingly  rule.  We  have  expected  that  by  the  use 
of  a  free  press,  guarded  by  a  general  citizens'  armament  — 
for  without  such  arming  we  know  well  that  the  oaths  of 
princes  would  not  secure  the  reforms  you  have  conquered 
—  would  make  the  people  come  to  a  common  understanding 
within  a  few  months.  We  had  expected  that  you  would  en- 
large your  rights  constantly  and  that  you  would  gain  the  con- 
viction and  realize  it,  that  only  a  republic  is  a  form  of  govern- 
ment worthy  of  an  intelligent  people. 

"In  this  expectation  we  have  been  in  great  part  disap- 
pointed. Many  of  the  former  leaders  of  the  people  have  be- 
trayed the  popular  cause.  The  natural  desire  for  unity  for 
which  we  are  ourselves  inspired,  and  doubly  inspired,  for  we 
have  learned  abroad  what  it  means  to  belong  to  a  people  which 
by  being  split  up  has  lost  its  importance  in  the  World's  His- 
tory, has  been  used  by  a  reckless  diplomacy,  which  had  its 
seat  at  London,  to  the  effect  that  your  Parliament  has  become 
the  tool  of  your  princes  guilty  of  high  treason.  Your  actual 
liberty  has  been  made  the  sacrifice  of  a  delusive  idea  of  unity, 
as  though  there  could  be  a  unity  making  you  a  really  great 
and  powerful  people,  leaving  in  existence  thirty-four  princi- 
palities and  recognizing  their  hereditary  right  over  the  peo- 
ple. A  central  power  elected  directly  or  indirectly  by  the 
people,  unless  it  is  only  a  shadowy  phantom  without  flesh  and 
blood,  annihilates  the  very  first  principle  of  the  rights  of 
sovereign  rulers,  and  it  is  a  mere  empty  dream  that  those 
who  built  their  claims  on  those  rights,  would  immolate  them- 
selves of  their  own  free  will.  Only  through  liberty  comes 
union  such  as  Germany  needs,  only  upon  the  ruins  of  all 


536  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

thrones  can  you  erect  the  edifice  of  German  nationality,  only 
a  confederate  Republic  can  solve  the  problem  to  unite  all  peo- 
ples of  German  tongue  into  one  powerful  common  brother- 
hood. 

"We  know  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  you  think  as 
we  do,  and  that  they  are  ready  to  carry  out  this  view. 

"The  history  of  the  past  year  has  proved  that  there  are 
bold  and  death-defying  men  enough  in  Germany,  that  Ger- 
many has  a  youth,  full  of  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  as  no 
other  nation  can  show.  The  exertions  that  have  —  alas  in 
vain !  —  been  made  would  almost,  with  any  other  less  divided 
people,  have  secured  popular  liberty.  We  also  well  know  what 
it  is  to  cross  the  chasm  between  words  and  actions.  We  know 
what  moral  force  it  requires  to  risk  upon  an  uncertainty  the 
sweet  habits  of  life  with  all  the  charms  which  family,  friends, 
and  society  give  to  it.  We  would  not  from  a  far  distance,  and 
being  ourselves  secure  from  the  power  of  tyrants,  condemn 
the  German  people  for  not  having  been  quite  equal  to  the 
greatness  of  the  time,  —  that  in  its  majority  it  has  hesitated 
to  take  the  decisive  leap  from  the  darkness  of  slavery  into  the 
clear  light  of  liberty,  and  yet  we  feel  prompted  to  urge  this 
upon  you. 

* '  Try !  Wake  up !  and  if  the  sense  of  human  dignity 
does  not  impel  you,  let  yourselves  be  driven  by  the  impulse 
of  indignation,  of  vengeance ! 

"In  Baden  the  troops  of  the  Parliament  have  carried  on 
the  war  like  Croats,  and  the  Croats  in  Vienna  like  devils.  Yet 
the  most  inhuman  cruelties  of  a  drunken  soldiery  are  hardly 
as  galling  and  hateful  as  the  insolent  contempt  of  the  rights 
of  a  great  and  powerful  people  by  a  drunken  King  at  Berlin. 
You  say,  we  do  not  want  to  have  Kings.  We  have  long  ago 
disbelieved  in  the  absurd  and  blasphemous  principle  that  birth 
gives  to  weak  men  the  right  to  subordinate  the  will  of  millions 
to  their  own  will;  we  recognize  that  in  a  State  the  majority 
ought  to  rule,  we  want  no  arbitrary  powers  in  officials,  we 
do  not  want  to  take  our  best  force  away  from  peaceful  in- 
dustry and  to  grant  them  to  princely  masters,  where  they  are 
uselessly  wasted,  or  at  best  used  for  the  oppression  of  the 
citizens.  We  do  not  want  favorites  and  mistresses  to  rule, 
who  suck  the  sap  of  the  country  and  poison  it  by  their  vices. 
We  do  not  want  to  be  taxed  millions,  coined  by  our  sweat  and 
blood,  to  sustain  a  lazy  set  of  princes;  we  want  to  develop 
ourselves  in  every  branch  without  being  led  and  driven  by 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  537 

the  nobility  and  hireling  learned  bureaucrats.  But  after  a  con- 
stitutional monarchy,  you  insist,  nothing  remains  but  a  repub- 
lic, and  that  we  fear,  for  it  threatens  the  property  and  may 
lead  to  anarchy. 

"  'Anarchy  is  the  spectre,'  as  was  said  many  years  ago 
by  a  highly  intellectual  German,  'by  which  the  governments 
frighten  political  children  into  their  beds.'  Anarchy  cannot 
exist  amongst  civilized  people  even  for  a  short  period.  It  is 
unnatural;  for  the  instinct  of  order  and  social  life  is  as 
strongly  implanted  in  the  human  breast  as  any  other.  Even 
at  the  time  of  the  French  Convention  there  was  a  period  when 
the  government  tried  to  conceal  its  inner  weakness  by  terror- 
ism. Laws  ruled,  but  those  laws  sprang  from  fear  and  polit- 
ical intolerance  and  victimized  the  suspected  as  well  as  the 
guilty.  The  German  nature  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  against 
excesses  and  too  great  severity.  Hangmen  like  Windisch- 
graetz,  Jellachich,  Radetzky,  were  not  the  products  of  Ger- 
man soil.  But  is  anarchy  the  necessary  consequence  of  a  re- 
public ?  Do  not  believe  the  falsehoods  of  mercenary  courtiers 
or  the  dreamy  speculations  of  your  childish  book-learned 
scholars.  Look  upon  Switzerland,  and  refute  them.  Look 
upon  our  republic  embracing  half  a  continent,  with  twenty 
millions  of  people,  and  refute  them !  Although  we  enjoy  here 
the  utmost  liberty,  and  everyone,  whether  capitalist  or  wage- 
worker,  exercises  the  right  of  voting,  property  is  nowhere 
better  regarded,  better  protected.  With  the  utmost  security 
one  travels  over  the  country.  To  industry,  commerce,  agri- 
culture, the  most  unlimited  room  for  development  is  given. 
A  resistance  against  our  Federal  or  State  governments  is  a 
matter  unheard  of.  In  the  most  embittered  election-contests, 
no  blood  of  citizens  is  spilt.  A  short  time  ago  three  millions 
of  the  most  opposite  political  views  gave  their  votes,  and  of 
the  great  political  excitement  prevailing  during  the  election- 
combat  no  trace  was  left  an  hour  after  the  electric  telegraph 
announced  the  result.  Business  was  not  suspended,  public 
order  not  disturbed  for  a  moment ;  no  drums  were  beat,  no  bay- 
onets planted.  And  some  of  our  States  are  quite  populous; 
we  lave  large,  much  crowded  cities,  containing  all  the  elements 
of  great  European  cities.  Do  you  believe  that  we  Republicans 
here  are  anxious  for  disorder  or  even  anarchy?  Far  from 
it,  we  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  majority  with  more  compos- 
ure and  more  self-denial  than  the  subjects  of  monarchies. 


538 

"We  repeat,  we  do  not  believe  those  who  calumniate 
republics  in  order  to  sustain  the  irrationality  of  kingly  gov- 
ernments. Strive  without  distrust  after  a  republican  consti- 
tution, which,  as  is  conceded  by  all  far-seeing  peoples,  is  well 
adapted  to  the  geographical  position  of  Germany  and  to  the 
quiet  and  reflective  character  of  the  German  nation.  The 
foundations  of  a  confederate  republic,  after  the  model  of  the 
United  States,  are  unmistakably  indicated  by  its  past  history. 

"When  the  joyful  news  of  last  March  came  across  the 
water  many  of  our  American  fellow-citizens  were  heard  to 
say:  'We  have  doubts  as  to  all  countries  of  Europe  for  the 
existence  of  a  true  republican  government,  Germany  excepted. 
The  Germans  are  made  to  be  republicans.'  And  they  know 
the  German  character,  for  they  know  us  who  now  speak  to 
you.  0 !  listen  to  our  voice,  which  comes  from  warm  German 
hearts,  —  listen  for  once  to  our  words,  which  express  but 
feebly  the  love,  the  inextinguishable  love  which  we  harbor 
for  you  in  our  bosom.  And  do  you  think  that  constitutional 
monarchy  would  give  you  peace,  a  chance  to  accumulate  prop- 
erty and  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  life  ?  Never !  Even  cold 
selfish  calculation  will  not  find  it  to  its  benefit.  The  fighting 
republicans  may  not  have  a  majority  in  numbers  yet,  but  they 
are  strong  through  their  ideas,  their  enthusiasm,  their  spirit 
of  sacrifice.  They  will  fight  and  fight  again,  they  will  stir  up 
elements  which  do  exist,  and  cannot  be  overlooked.  Your 
cities'  streets  will  run  with  the  blood  of  the  republicans  and 
the  mercenary  soldiers.  The  flames  of  civil  war  will  rise 
again,  destroying  many  of  your  cities  and  towns.  The  unity 
of  Germany  is  lost  as  long  as  you  tolerate  hereditary  rulers, 
traitors  to  the  most  sacred  rights  of  humanity. 

"And  if  we  in  conclusion  may  indicate  means  how  to  win 
a  republic,  we  freely  declare  that  the  best  is  the  sword.  But 
where  you  are  overmatched,  where  the  sentiments  of  the  army 
are  yet  too  uncertain,  begin  by  using  the  right  of  public  meet- 
ings on  the  largest  scale.  Organize  patriotic  clubs  in  the  cities 
and  in  the  country.  In  this  way  you  count  yourselves,  and 
after  counting  you  will  be  encouraged  by  finding  how  large 
your  numbers  really  are,  and  you  will  be  most  likely  to  act. 
Refuse  to  pay  taxes,  without  waiting  for  your  legislatures  to 
make  such  refusal.  Without  active  resistance  you  will  thereby 
compel  the  governments  to  send  large  bodies  of  troops  through 
the  country  to  enforce  sales  and  protect  them.  But  if  there 
is  a  majority  of  delinquent  taxpayers,  the  government  will  not 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  539 

be  able  to  realize  anything  from  sales.  There  is  the  spot  where 
governments  are  the  most  vulnerable.  Prevent  recruiting,  let 
not  your  young  muster  themselves  in  voluntarily,  but  force 
the  government  to  send  more  troops  to  catch  the  refractory. 
If  this  is  done  to  any  great  extent,  you  will  hit  another  fatal 
spot  of  tyrannical  power.  Fraternize  with  the  soldiers,  talk 
to  them  like  brothers,  present  them  their  mothers,  their  sisters, 
their  sweethearts,  if  they  are  commanded  to  attack  you,  and 
they  will  lay  down  their  arms  and  join  your  ranks.  Your 
hate  and  contempt  should  reach  everyone  who  shows  servility 
to  the  princes,  and  you  should  brand  loyalty  as  disreputable, 
as  a  crime  to  humanity. 

"Choose  representatives  from  the  people  and  do  not  take 
them  from  the  lecture-rooms  or  the  learned  classes,  or  from 
the  bench  of  ministers.  Make  it  a  sacred  principle  not  to 
elect  anyone  who  has  worn  the  livery  of  a  prince,  or  who,  as 
an  officer  of  the  government,  is  dependent  upon  it.  Trust  to 
the  youth ;  for  the  young  are  purer  and  nobler  than  the  aged. 
As  long  as  we  see  even  a  spark  of  active  love  for  liberty  in  you, 
we  will  work  with  words  and  pen  for  the  regeneration  of  the 
German  people.  We  will  try  our  best  to  raise  money  to  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  decided  and  proved  republicans;  we 
will  try  to  maintain  for  you  the  sympathy  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens, who  have  thus  far  taken  the  most  lively  interest  in  your 
efforts  for  reform!  And  once  again  —  trust  to  our  words  — 
for  they  come  from  the  heart ;  do  not  disregard  our  opinions, 
for  they  are  the  fruits  of  experience.  Do  not  repulse  coldly 
those  who  can  have  but  good  and  pure  motives  and  who  call 
themselves  with  pride  your  brethren  as  long  as  you  strive  and 
combat  for  liberty!" 

This  address,  I  repeat,  was  written  at  a  time  when  polit- 
ical excitement  was  at  its  height,  and  when  its  language  was 
not  stronger  than  that  of  many  pamphlets,  newspaper  articles, 
and  speeches  read  and  heard  in  Germany. 

When  we  learned  in  May  that  the  people  had  risen  in 
Saxony,  Rhenish  Bavaria,  Baden  and  Wuertemberg  in  defense 
of  the  Constitution  enacted  by  the  Parliament,  collections  were 
made  by  the  Germans  all  over  the  United  States  to  assist  in 
arming  and  equipping  the  volunteers.  In  Belleville,  princi- 
pally by  the  efforts  of  the  ladies,  who  arranged  a  bazaar,  we 
raised  $470.00,  which  was  sent  to  Lorenz  Brentano,  who,  when 


540  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  money  arrived,  was  at  the  head  of  the  provisional  govern- 
ment, and  who  with  our  consent  afterwards  used  the  money 
for  the  support  of  the  fragments  of  the  Liberal  army  which 
had  taken  refuge  in  Switzerland  after  Baden  had  been  con- 
quered by  the  Prussians. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Baden  provisional  government 
was  to  call  formally  upon  Hecker  to  return.  Hecker  at  once 
left  his  farm  and  started  for  Germany.  Going  by  way  of 
Chicago  he  met  Adolph  Engelmann,  who,  after  having  prac- 
ticed law  in  St.  Glair  and  in  my  circuit,  had  settled  in  Chicago, 
and  Adolph  at  once  resolved  to  follow  Hecker.  But  when 
Hecker  arrived  some  time  in  July  at  Southampton,  he  learned 
of  the  discomfiture  of  the  Liberal  cause.  He  went  to  Strass- 
burg,  but  of  course  could  do  nothing  but  return.  In  Havre 
he  waited  for  his  family  and  brought  his  charming  wife  and 
children  back  to  St.  Glair  County. 

Adolph,  however,  could  go  to  Germany  unmolested.  He 
visited  his  relatives  in  Bavaria,  Frankfort,  Munich  and  Ber- 
lin, and  concluded  to  stay  a  while  at  the  latter  place  to  hear 
lectures  at  the  University.  But  he  did  not  stay  long.  Prussia 
had  made  its  peace  with  Denmark  and  withdrawn  its  army  in 
1850;  and  the  Schleswig-Holstein  people,  deserted  by  Prus- 
sia and  the  central  government  at  Frankfort,  continued  the 
war.  Many  Germans  from  the  other  states  rushed  into  the 
ranks  of  the  Schleswig-Holstein  army,  and  amongst  these  vol- 
unteers was  Adolph.  Even  the  former  president  of  the  Ger- 
man Parliament,  Henry  Von  Gagern,  was  found  amongst  the 
volunteers;  he  entered  the  fourth  battalion  of  rifles,  a  crack 
corps.  But  the  Schleswig-Holstein  army,  under  General  Will- 
isen,  was  defeated  after  a  most  sanguinary  battle  at  Idstedt, 
July,  1850.  The  Schleswig-Holstein  army  had  to  take  the 
defensive,  and  no  great  battles  took  place  after  Idstedt.  Early 
in  1851,  Austria  and  Prussia  summoned  the  Schleswig-Hol- 
stein government  to  lay  down  its  arms;  and  as  they  refused, 
an  Austrian  army  entered  Holstein,  and  the  government  and 
army  were  dissolved.  Adolph  now  returned. 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  541 

While  the  interest  in  German  affairs  declined  as  the  pros- 
pects for  a  favorable  result  became  less  hopeful,  the  great  suc- 
cesses which  in  the  spring  and  summer  were  obtained  by  the 
Hungarians  against  Austria  under  the  lead  of  Louis  Kossuth 
and  Generals  Goergey,  Klapka,  Bern  and  Dembinski,  created 
great  excitement  in  the  United  States.  The  United  States 
came  very  near  recognizing  the  independence  of  Hungary  by 
sending  an  official  agent  to  the  government  of  that  country  to 
report  on  the  propriety  of  such  recognition.  Large  meetings 
were  held  in  almost  all  the  cities,  expressing  their  deep  sym- 
pathy with  the  Hungarian  cause;  and  Austria,  and  Russia, 
which  had  come  to  the  help  of  Austria  with  large  armies,  were 
denounced  in  the  most  bitter  terms.  But  the  loss  of  the  battle 
of  Temesvar  and  the  capitulation  of  the  remnants  of  the  Hun- 
garian army  in  August,  1849,  at  Vilagos,  together  with  the 
decisive  victory  of  the  Austrians  at  Novara  over  Sardinia, 
destroyed  the  last  hopes  of  the  Liberals  in  all  parts  of  Europe. 
This  of  course  abated  the  interest  which  had  been  so  uni- 
versally and  enthusiastically  taken  in  these  memorable  events 
in  the  United  States. 

SHIELDS  ELECTED   UNITED   STATES  SENATOR 

Shields  had  received  early  in  the  year  1849,  by  a  few 
votes,  the  nomination  in  the  Democratic  caucus  for  United 
States  Senator  over  Judge  Breese,  and  was  consequently 
elected  by  the  Legislature  to  that  office.  While  the  contest  was 
going  on,  it  was  whispered  about  that  he  was  not  eligible,  as 
he  had  not  been  formally  naturalized  nine  years,  which  was 
required  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Now 
Shields,  of  course,  must  have  been  aware  of  that  fact,  yet  the 
charge  not  being  openly  made  and  substantiated,  he  was 
elected.  As  it  turned  out  he  had  obtained  his  final  papers 
only  in  June  or  July,  1840.  If  he  had  been  prudent  and  not 
over  ambitious,  he  could  have  obviated  all  difficulty.  The 
Constitution  reads:  "No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  is 
not  thirty  years  of  age  and  has  not  been  nine  years  a  citizen 


542  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

of  the  United  States."  The  regular  session  of  Congress  to 
which  he  had  been  elected  commenced  on  the  first  Monday  in 
December,  1849,  so  that  if  he  had  presented  himself  then,  he 
would  have  been  a  citizen  for  nine  years.  Congress  had 
adjourned  on  the  fourth  of  March,  1849;  but  when  a  new 
administration  comes  in,  as  was  now  the  case,  the  President 
calls  a  special  session  of  the  Senate,  lasting  but  a  week  or  so, 
to  act  upon  the  President's  appointments  to  the  Cabinet  and 
other  important  offices.  Now  Shields  could  have  very  prop- 
erly stayed  at  home,  since  this  was  merely  a  short  executive 
session  and  the  interests  of  his  constituents  were  not  at  stake. 
Instead  of  that  he  hastened  to  Washington  and  presented  his 
certificate,  when  a  Senator,  a  friend  of  Breese,  who,  of  course, 
was  very  much  mortified  by  his  defeat,  raised  the  objection, 
and  presented  the  record-evidence  of  his  disability.  The  Sen- 
ate could  not  but  reject  Shields.  It  was  now  Shields 's  turn 
to  be  mortified.  The  Governor  called  in  October  a  special 
session  of  the  legislature  for  the  election  of  a  Senator.  Breese 
and  Shields  were  again  candidates.  Another  hot  contest  took 
place.  Some  of  the  members  who  had  voted  for  Shields  had 
died  or  resigned.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  had  gained 
strength  because  it  was  thought  that  the  act  of  Breese  in  get- 
ting Shields  rejected  was  ungracious.  I  for  one  thought  so, 
and,  while  in  the  first  election  I  had  been  quite  impartial,  I 
went  in  strongly  for  Shields  at  the  Legislature,  and  he 
was  reflected  by  the  closest  possible  vote. 

THE  CHOLERA  OF  1849 

Quite  early  this  year  the  cholera  made  its  appearance  in 
the  West  India  Islands,  and  in  New  Orleans  and  some  other 
cities  on  the  lower  Mississippi.  While  I  was  at  the  Chester 
court  early  in  April,  some  cases  broke  out  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Kaskaskia  and  in  St.  Louis.  Aunt  Caroline  was  taken 
down  with  it,  and  in  my  absence  Sophie  had  hastened  over  to 
nurse  her,  although  the  disease  was  almost  universally  con- 
sidered at  that  time  highly  contagious.  Fortunately  the 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  543 

attack  was  not  a  severe  one,  and  when  I  returned  to  Belleville, 
Caroline  was  already  convalescent,  and  Sophie  had  come  home. 
In  a  few  days,  however,  the  mortality  in  St.  Louis  greatly 
increased,  and  at  the  commencement  of  May  it  was  assuming 
alarming  proportions.  On  the  fifth  of  May,  a  steamboat  at 
the  landing  got  afire.  It  soon  spread  to  other  boats,  nearly 
twenty  in  number,  and  the  wind  coming  sharply  from  the  east 
some  houses  on  the  levee  also  took  fire,  and  in  a  few  hours  the 
buildings  for  four  or  five  blocks  north  on  the  water  front, 
and  as  many  in  Market  Street,  were  in  a  blaze.  The  business 
heart  of  the  city  was  almost  entirely  destroyed,  and  the  loss 
amounted  to  many  millions  of  dollars.  It  was  hoped  that  this 
large  conflagration  and  the  large  volume  of  smoke  might,  by 
purifying  the  air,  stop  the  cholera-scourge ;  but  although  for  a 
few  days  the  mortality  had  somewhat  diminished,  it  soon  rose 
again  frightfully.  Of  course,  intercourse  with  St.  Louis 
ceased  in  a  measure.  As  Belleville,  however,  remained  per- 
fectly healthy  all  through  May,  we  flattered  ourselves  that  we 
would  be  spared.  But  in  the  first  days  of  June  a  case 
occurred  one  evening.  Next  morning  ten  were  reported,  and 
they  all  terminated  fatally  within  a  few  hours.  We  had  con- 
cluded to  stay  it  out,  although  several  families  at  once  left  for 
the  country. 

It  was  a  mournful  time.  In  going  to  my  office  in  the 
morning  I  found  funeral  crapes  attached  to  the  doors  of  many 
houses.  Soon  we  had  twenty  cases  a  day,  mostly  fatal  ones, 
which,  considering  that  Belleville  had  hardly  more  than  five 
thousand  inhabitants,  was  a  large  death  rate.  But  as  the 
town  authorities  had  opened  a  hospital  for  the  very  few  poor 
people  of  the  place,  a  good  many  sick  were  sent  in  from  the 
country,  and  transient  people  also  came  to  it,  so  that  perhaps 
for  Belleville  itself  the  mortality  was  not  so  high  as  in  many 
other  places.  Business  ceased;  stores  were  closed;  no  one 
from  the  country  came  near  the  place,  and  hardly  anyone  was 
on  the  streets.  The  air  was  oppressive;  for  weeks  the  heav- 
ens were  clouded;  big  showers  occurred  from  time  to  time. 


544  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Doctors  were  running  around.  Coffin-making  was  almost  the 
only  business  which  was  carried  on.  To  the  cemetery  down- 
town funeral  trains  were  constantly  moving.  No  one  seemed 
to  feel  quite  well.  On  the  public  square  and  other  places, 
large  piles  of  wood  were  lighted  for  the  purpose  of  purifying 
the  air.  Thick  smoke  enwrapped  the  whole  city.  No  one  who 
has  not  witnessed  a  raging  epidemic  can  have  any  idea  how 
people  feel  in  the  midst  of  it.  It  was  a  new  experience  to  us, 
and  a  terrible  one.  It  was,  moreover,  the  season  of  the  year 
when  children  are  taken  sick  with  cholera  infantum.  This 
became  a  very  fatal  disease  now.  One  of  our  friends  lost  two 
young  children  within  a  few  hours. 

Uncle  Ledergerber  had  invited  us  and  Theodore  Engel- 
mann's  family,  consisting  of  himself,  Hannchen,  his  wife,  and 
two  small  children,  to  come  out  to  his  farm.  Little  Paula 
was  then  a  little  over  two  years  old,  just  the  time  when  chil- 
dren are  most  liable  to  the  summer  complaint.  Gustav  was 
a  little  over  four  years.  Although  I  hated  to  set  an  example 
of  flight,  we  thought  it  was  due  to  our  little  ones  to  accept 
Ledergerber 's  kind  offer.  So  after  having  remained  about 
three  weeks  during  the  epidemic,  we  all  left.  Of  course,  uncle 
and  sister  Charlotte  had  to  undergo  much  inconvenience  in 
harboring  and  providing  for  so  large  an  accession,  but  they 
took  the  best  possible  care  of  us  and  were  all  the  time  most 
kind  and  attentive.  The  Ledergerber  boys,  Frederick  and 
Joseph,  and  our  Theodore  had  a  glorious  time  hunting  and 
riding,  and  in  the  harvest  field,  driving  four-horse  teams. 
Mary  and  little  Lottchen,  and  in  fact  all  the  children,  also 
enjoyed  themselves  very  much.  We  all  kept  perfectly  well; 
only  Paula  had  a  slight  touch  of  summer  complaint.  Doctor 
Reuss  lived  within  gun-shot  of  the  Ledergerbers,  and  so  did 
Doctor  Schott,  at  whose  house  the  German  library  was  then 
kept.  So  we  had  plenty  to  read.  But  we  also  visited  our 
neighbors,  and  spent  much  time  at  the  Engelmann  farm  only 
two  miles  off.  Indeed,  had  it  not  been  for  the  public  calamity 
all  around,  and  in  many  parts  of  the  United  States,  —  Cincin- 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  545 

nati  for  instance,  suffered  more  than  St.  Louis,  —  and  the 
depressing  news  we  got  from  Germany  regarding  the  defeat 
of  the  Liberal  armies  and  the  cruelties  committed  by  the  sol- 
diers and  court-martials  upon  the  unhappy  prisoners,  our 
stay  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  the  Ledergerbers  would  have 
been  a  very  pleasant  one.  The  latter  part  of  August,  the  epi- 
demic having  almost  entirely  ceased,  we  returned  home. 

SHIELDS    AND    HECKER 

In  the  spring  of  this  year,  accompanied  by  Shields,  I 
went  out  to  see  Hecker  several  times  at  his  farm,  where  we 
had  a  most  pleasant  time.  Hecker  was  excellent  in  conversa- 
tion. His  talk  was  interspersed  with  quotations  and  with  a 
fund  of  anecdotes  which  lost  nothing  in  the  telling.  He  was 
perfectly  at  home  in  history,  ethnography,  economy,  not  to 
forget  jurisprudence,  and  appeared  to  have  some  general 
knowledge  at  least  of  many  other  branches  of  science.  He 
overflowed  with  wit  and  humor.  Shields  became  a  great 
admirer  of  his.  Indeed,  there  was  some  considerable  simi- 
larity between  the  two.  Both  were  impulsive;  both,  in  spite 
of  their  protestations  to  the  contrary,  very  ambitious,  and 
both  very  fond  of  flattery,  with  this  distinction  that  Shields 
was  never  carried  away  by  his  passion  or  his  vanity,  but  stead- 
ily pursued  his  aim,  whilst  Hecker  sometimes  allowed  his 
warmth  of  feeling  and  his  proneness  to  open  his  ears  to  syco- 
phants and  parasites,  to  get  the  better  of  his  judgment.  For 
the  leader  of  a  party  Hecker  was  too  subjective.  His  likes 
or  dislikes  of  a  political  personage  would  make  him  forget 
the  principles  for  which  a  person  stood.  While  Hecker 's 
conversation  by  its  liveliness  and  originality  charmed  people, 
his  writings  and  speeches  suffered  from  the  very  qualities 
which  made  his  social  talks  so  highly  interesting.  He  was 
led  at  random  from  one  topic  to  another,  the  connection  not 
always  being  apparent.  He  was  not  choice  in  the  selection 
of  his  words,  which  impaired  very  much  the  flashes  of  genius 
of  which  his  literary  and  oratorical  efforts  never  were  desti- 


546  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

tute.  His  style  might  be  compared  to  a  garden  full  of  fine 
shrubs  and  beautiful  flowers,  which  had  been  neglected  by 
its  owner,  and  in  which  the  flowers  had  been  half  killed  by 
weeds,  and  the  shrubs  had  shot  up  and  grown  too  big  for  want 
of  trimming.  In  a  word,  if  Hecker  had  had  a  little  more 
taste  and  a  good  deal  more  tact,  he  would  have  been  a  great 
writer  and  speaker.  As  it  was,  though  he  was  always  honest 
in  his  opinions  and  wholly  incorruptible,  he  frequently  did  the 
party  for  which  he  labored  more  harm  than  good.  Though 
differing  often  as  to  the  means  to  the  ends  we  both  desired, 
and  sometimes  even  as  to  the  ends  themselves,  our  friendly 
personal  relations  remained  uninterrupted  to  the  very  last. 

EUROPEAN  POLITICAL  EXILES 

The  famine  in  Ireland  in  1847  had  driven  into  the  Uni- 
ted States  nearly  a  million  Irish  people,  who  arrived  in  1848 
and  1849.  The  revolutionary  movements  in  Germany  were 
followed  by  a  very  large  emigration  not  only  from  the  ranks 
of  those  who  had  actually  participated  in  those  movements, 
but  from  large  classes  of  other  people  who  had  become  dis- 
gusted with  the  reaction  that  had  set  in,  or  who  hoped  to  bet- 
ter their  situation,  business  during  the  stormy  years  of  1848-49 
having  been  greatly  disturbed  and  hard  times  pressing  upon 
nearly  the  whole  population  of  the  continent  of  Europe. 

It  was  natural  that  the  political  exiles  attracted  most 
attention.  As  a  rule,  they  were  received  with  open  arms  by 
the  older  residents,  and  indeed,  there  were  many  amongst 
them  who  were  worthy  of  all  esteem.  But  many  others,  while 
their  personal  character  could  not  be  impeached,  belonged  to 
the  extreme  and  most  radical  wing  of  the  Liberals,  which  had 
materially  contributed  to  the  failure  of  the  Liberal  cause. 
These  were  full  of  the  most  fantastic  and  Utopian  ideas,  and 
many  had  indoctrinated  themselves  with  the  socialistic  and 
communistic  ideas  of  Fourier,  Proudhon  and  Cabet.  They  at 
once  found  fault  with  our  institutions,  and  set  to  work  to 
reform  them. 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  547 

Carl  Heinzen,  a  man  of  high  intellect  and  of  extensive 
information,  who  in  Germany  had  published  a  number  of 
works  and  pamphlets  against  the  prevailing  monarchical  and 
bureaucratic  system,  in  consequence  of  which  the  Prussian 
government  ordered  him  to  be  arrested,  had  escaped  and  had 
finally  landed  in  the  United  States  early  in  1848.  At  the  out- 
break of  the  March  revolution  he  returned  to  Germany.  But 
he  was  too  radical  even  for  the  Republicans.  Indeed,  at  the 
second  rising  in  Baden  in  1849,  the  Liberal  provincial  govern- 
ment had  him  arrested  on  account  of  his  socialistic  and  almost 
anarchistic  agitation.  The  Swiss  authorities  also  banished 
him  from  Switzerland,  and  the  French  Republic  did  the  same. 
In  1850  he  arrived  again  in  New  York,  started  there,  and 
later  on  in  the  West,  a  number  of  short-lived  papers,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  establishing  permanently  in  Boston  his 
''Pioneer."  Heinzen  had  theories  of  his  own,  and  it  is  hard 
to  tell  what  they  were.  He  preached  the  complete  emanci- 
pation of  women,  the  abolition  of  all  positive  religions,  and  the 
abolition  of  the  Presidency  and  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  Such  was  his  daily  cry,  like  the  elder  Cato  's  ' '  Carth- 
aginem  esse  delendam."  If  a  representative  gave  a  vote 
which  displeased  a  majority  of  his  constituents,  he  was  imme- 
diately to  be  recalled.  The  President  he  called  the  "King 
in  Dress-Coat."  He  and  many  others  wanted  Congress  to 
abolish  slavery  at  once,  because  the  existing  Constitution, 
which  denied  that  power  to  Congress,  was  bad  and  therefore 
not  binding.  He  found  many  followers.  Those  who  most 
admired  him  understood  him  least ;  for  his  style  was  hard,  dry, 
scholastic  and  without  the  least  bit  of  charm.  Collections 
were  made  to  support  his  paper,  which  failed  to  take  with  the 
masses. 

GERMAN  POLITICAL  REFORMERS  IN  AMERICA 

Reform  clubs  were  formed,  particularly  in  the  Eastern 
States,  under  various  names,  the  tendency  of  which  was  not 
only  to  revolutionize  Europe  but  also  this  country.  Their 
programs  were  often  more  chimerical  than  Heinzen 's.  One, 


548  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

I  believe,  formed  in  Philadelphia,  called  upon  all  patriots  to 
kill  all  monarchs,  promising  to  pay  rewards,  and  adopting 
a  price-list  according  to  the  quality  of  the  victims.  William 
Weidling,  by  profession  a  tailor,  who  had  been  banished  from 
Switzerland  as  an  apostle  of  communism,  also  came  to  our 
shores.  He  was  opposed  to  Heinzen,  because  the  latter  was 
opposed  to  communism.  He  published  a  paper  somewhere  in 
the  East.  He  was  an  honest  man,  and  really  a  clear  and  good 
writer,  but  with  his  doctrine  that  "property  was  theft,"  he 
did  not  find  this  country  very  congenial. 

Schlaeger  was  another  half  crazy  reformer,  who  also 
made  a  great  noise,  but  soon  ceased.  Hassaurek,  who  in  due 
time  became  a  rational  American  Republican,  a  gentleman  of 
talents  and  an  able  orator,  preached  socialism  in  Cincinnati 
and  traveled  throughout  the  West  delivering  lectures  to  the 
workingmen. 

In  1850  Henry  Boernstein  and  Louis  Bernays  arrived  in 
St.  Louis,  two  literati,  who  soon  made  the  "welkin  ring." 
Henry  Boernstein,  after  a  most  adventurous  life  as  an  Aus- 
trian cadet,  a  stage-player,  a  director  of  strolling  theatrical 
companies  and  arranger-general  of  public  festivities,  an 
impressario,  a  journalist,  and,  during  his  last  years  in  Europe, 
a  correspondent  of  German  papers  from  Paris,  had  busied 
himself  with  organizing  workingmen 's  societies  in  Paris,  and 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution  in  Germany,  had,  with  other 
German  exiles,  supported  by  French  funds,  formed  a  legion 
to  assist  the  Republican  rising  under  Hecker  in  Baden.  He 
was  a  man  of  undoubted  talents  and  executive  ability,  but 
politics  was  more  a  matter  of  business  with  him  than  of  prin- 
ciple. He  wielded  a  ready  pen,  wrote  novels  in  what  we  now 
call  the  "dime  novel"  style,  far  more  realistic  than  the  "Mys- 
teries" of  Eugene  Sue,  or  the  "Human  Documents"  of  Zola. 
Having  in  some  way  obtained  control  of  the  "Anzeiger  des 
Westens,"  he  became  the  first  sensational  writer  of  the  Ger- 
man press.  Of  course,  he  was  a  reformer,  and,  like  Eugene 
Sue,  at  once  ran  amuck  against  the  Jesuits  and  Catholicism  in 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  549 

general.  He  published  sensational  reports  about  cruelties 
inflicted  in  convents,  kidnaping  and  other  terrible  misdeeds. 
Disturbances  and  even  riots  were  engendered  by  his  drastic 
representations.  He  used  the  press  in  order  to  make  for  him- 
self a  party,  and  he  succeeded  to  a  great  extent.  Those  who 
would  not  follow  his  dictation,  he  relentlessly  pursued.  He 
was  a  master  in  advertising  himself  and  his  paper,  and  made 
the  latter  a  business  success.  In  some  respects  his  stirring  up 
of  the  people  was  not  without  its  good  effects,  but  no  doubt  he 
created  strife  and  bad  feeling,  and  above  all  roused  the  Amer- 
ican population  against  the  Germans  and  the  newcomers  in 
particular.  A  good  deal  of  the  very  strong  revival  of  the 
Native  American  feeling,  just  at  this  time  and  for  some  years 
to  come,  was  owing  to  the  arrogance,  imperious  and  domineer- 
ing conduct  of  the  refugees. 

There  is  one  spot  in  which  the  Americans  are  very  vul- 
nerable, and  that  is  when  they  are  denounced  as  not  under- 
standing what  true  liberty  is,  and  it  is  undertaken  to  show 
that  their  Constitution  and  laws  are  overrated.  The  German 
population  which  the  'Forty-Eighters,  as  they  were  called, 
found  here,  did  not  fancy  very  much  being  called  Philistines 
who  did  not  know  how  to  assert  themselves,  or  mere  "hewers 
of  wood  and  drawers  of  water, ' '  and  did  not  like  being  taught 
by  the  newcomers  what  true  freedom  was.  While  there  was 
some  truth  in  these  reproaches,  there  was  evident  exaggera- 
tion, springing  from  ignorance  of  the  condition  of  the  Ger- 
man element.  These  newcomers  were  thought  to  be  "green" 
by  the  old  residents,  and  were  accordingly  called  the 
"Greens."  Boernstein  retaliated  by  calling  the  old  citizens 
the  "Grays."  For  years  a  very  unpleasant  state  of  things 
was  the  consequence  of  this  antagonism. 

The  "Belleviller  Zeitung,"  published  by  B.  Hauck,  about 
this  time  had  obtained  a  considerable  circulation,  but  still  this 
did  not  justify  him  in  engaging  a  competent  editor  at  a  high 
salary.  He  appealed  to  me  from  time  to  time  to  write  edito- 
rials for  his  paper,  particularly  on  American  politics.  The 


550  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

latter  had  become  quite  interesting,  and  even  exciting,  owing 
to  the  question  of  what  disposition  was  to  be  made  of  the 
immense  territory  of  California,  Utah,  Arizona,  and  New  Mex- 
ico acquired  by  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Mexico.  The  German 
press  being  in  great  part  now  in  the  hands  of  the  new  immi- 
grants, who  knew  absolutely  nothing  of  American  politics,  I 
thought  it  rather  important  that  some  organ  should  be  main- 
tained which  would  treat  our  affairs  with  some  degree  of 
knowledge.  I  yielded  to  the  publisher's  wishes  so  far  as  to 
promise  at  my  leisure  to  fill  the  editorial  columns,  leaving  all 
local  news  and  the  entire  business  management  of  the  paper 
in  the  hands  of  subordinates.  I  had  no  pecuniary  interest  in 
the  paper,  and  my  name  nowhere  appeared  in  the  columns. 
Having  a  great  many  warm  friends  amongst  the  "Greens," 
and  also  entertaining  a  high  esteem  for  many  others  whom  I 
did  not  personally  know,  I  pursued  a  very  temperate  course, 
correcting  their  views  of  our  institutions  which  I  considered 
erroneous,  making  the  public  acquainted  with  the  debates  in 
Congress  and  the  character  of  our  public  men,  and  advising 
moderation  and  patience.  It  is  true,  the  utterly  hollow  and 
vain  pretenses  to  superior  knowledge  of  Mr.  Boernstein,  and 
his  palpable  charlatanism,  I  occasionally  castigated.  As  he 
had  very  soon  managed,  by  his  overbearing  vanity,  his  flippant 
and  dictatorial  behavior,  —  his  bull-dozing  as  it  would  now  be 
called,  —  to  make  himself  a  good  many  enemies,  the  "Belle- 
viller  Zeitung"  was  readily  taken  and  greedily  read  in  St. 
Louis. 

It  was  no  wonder  that  he  assailed  me  bitterly,  represented 
me  as  the  great  champion  of  the  ' '  Grays, ' '  gave  me  the  epithet 
of  the  "Gray  Gustav,"  and  called  me  a  relic  of  the  olden 
times,  though  he,  himself,  was  older  than  I.  I  gave  him  a  Ro- 
land for  his  Oliver:  he  grew  angry  and  I  kept  cool.  At  any 
rate  he  did  not  disturb  my  circles,  whilst  I  did  his  to  a  con- 
siderable extent. 

I  also  met,  about  this  time,  another  very  amusing  oppon- 
ent in  no  less  a  person  than  Maximilian  Oertel,  known  as 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  551 

Pater  Oertel,  of  New  York,  the  publisher  and  editor  of  the 
well  known  "Catholische  Kirchenzeitung. "  Oertel  had  been 
one  of  the  ultra-pious  Catholics  of  Bishop  Stephan's  Church, 
an  orthodox  Lutheran  of  the  deepest  dye,  but  had  become  an 
apostate  and  in  some  way  been  converted  to  Catholicism.  But, 
devout  as  he  was,  he  was  a  man  of  a  very  genial  mind,  one  of 
the  best  German  journalists,  and  outside  of  religion  a  man  of 
excellent  and  sound  judgment.  Though  a  very  learned  theo- 
logian, he  never  used  any  but  the  most  popular  language. 
There  was  no  misunderstanding  him,  and  in  a  certain  kind  of 
coarse  humor,  he  was  equal  to  the  celebrated  capuchin  Abra- 
ham a  Santa  Clara. 

Two  Jesuits,  (one  of  them  by  the  name  of  Weninger,  I 
believe,  was  considered  a  most  eloquent  speaker,)  had  under- 
taken a  missionary  crusade  throughout  the  Western  States  and 
attracted  great  attention  and  curiosity.  Their  arrival  at  any 
particular  place,  was  always  heralded  long  beforehand,  and 
when  they  came  to  Belleville,  large  crowds  of  Catholics  had 
assembled.  They  preached  outside  of  the  church  under  an 
immense  wooden  cross  reared  for  the  occasion.  Lamenting 
the  indifference  of  the  faithful,  their  tardiness  in  raising  funds 
for  the  church  and  the  Holy  Father  in  Rome,  their  social 
intercourse  with  heretics,  they  condemned  them  all  as  sin- 
ners, and  fully  specified  their  possible  and  impossible  sins. 
Unless  they  speedily  repented,  they  said,  they  would  be  eter- 
nally damned.  Their  salvation  was  through  the  holy  immac- 
ulate virgin,  and  more  particularly  through  the  adoration  of 
her  sacred  heart.  In  a  word,  to  use  a  German  expression, 
they  made  "hell  hot"  for  their  audience.  There  was  also  a 
good  deal  of  theatrical  show  and  mummery  in  the  church,  and 
scenes  took  place  even  outdoing  the  Methodist  revivals.  The 
audience  got  highly  excited,  women  fainted  and  the  men  even 
groaned.  A  highly  intelligent  and  respectable  citizen,  over 
his  own  signature,  sent  in  a  communication,  pretty  severely 
criticizing  these  proceedings,  and  particularly  the  intolerant 
denunciations  of  the  Jesuit  fathers  of  other  religions.  Soon 


552  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEENER 

Oertel  attacked  the  ' '  Belleviller  Zeitung,"  in  one  of  his  half 
humorous  and  half  vituperative  articles,  to  which  the  author 
of  the  communication  sent  an  "ironclad"  reply.  But  Oertel 
was  not  satisfied.  Although  the  paper  itself  had  not  said 
anything  editorially  about  the  matter,  and  all  the  responsibil- 
ity rested  with  the  well-known  correspondent,  Oertel  did  not 
cease  to  make  personal  attacks  upon  me,  to  which  I  answered 
in  a  way  which  made  him  still  angrier.  I  treated  his  har- 
angues as  a  mere  matter  of  fun,  intimating  that  he,  himself, 
was  far  too  intelligent  a  man  to  believe  the  stun3  which  he 
assumed  to  defend.  Of  course,  his  sudden  conversion  from 
an  extreme  Lutheran  to  an  equally  extreme  Ultramontane 
champion  was  humorously  alluded  to.  This  duel  lasted  a 
good  while,  and  I  must  say  afforded  me  much  amusement, 
while  it  also  increased  the  circulation  of  our  paper  very  much. 
I  have  already  alluded  to  the  very  serious  aspect  of  our 
political  affairs  during  this  year.  But  they  became  far  more 
portentous  in  the  next. 

ADMISSION  OF  CALIFORNIA 

When  the  news  of  the  outbreak  of  the  war  reached  Cali- 
fornia in  1846,  Col.  John  C.  Fremont,  at  the  head  of  his 
exploring  expedition,  was  then  in  California,  and  in  connection 
with  Commodore  Stockton,  who  happened  to  be  with  a  United 
States  warship  at  Monterey,  hoisted  the  American  flag,  and 
without  much  resistance  took  possession  of  the  country.  Soon 
old  General  Kearney  was  sent  over  from  the  United  States  to 
act  provisionally  as  Governor.  When,  by  the  peace  with  Mex- 
ico, upper  California  was  ceded  to  the  United  States,  Con- 
gress failed  to  provide  a  Territorial  government,  though  the 
discovery  of  the  gold  fields  at  Colonel  Sutter's  farm  brought 
thousands  of  settlers  into  the  region,  and  in  1850  the  popula- 
tion was  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 

The  necessity  for  a  strong  and  orderly  government  under 
these  peculiar  circumstances,  when  people  not  only  from  all 
of  the  States  of  the  Union,  but  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  553 

mostly  young  men  and  adventurers,  had  within  an  incredibly 
short  time  crowded  in,  was  apparent ;  yet  Congress,  fearing  to 
open  exciting  questions,  had  not  established  a  Territorial  gov- 
ernment. 

The  Californians  became  impatient.  The  military  gov- 
ernment, it  was  said,  at  the  instance  of  President  Taylor  him- 
self, called  a  convention  late  in  1849,  which  at  once  framed  a 
constitution,  containing  a  clause  forbidding  slavery  forever, 
elected  a  Legislature,  which  passed  the  necessary  laws,  elected 
two  Senators  for  Washington,  and  claimed  at  once  admission 
as  a  full  grown  State. 

This  proceeding  was  unusual.  Heretofore,  with,  I  believe, 
one  exception,  the  embryo  States  formed  from  newly  acquired 
territories  had  always  been  organized  first  as  Territories  by  acts 
of  Congress.  When  they  had  a  population  entitling  them  to 
a  Representative  in  Congress,  and  had  applied  for  admission, 
Congress  had  passed  acts  authorizing  them  to  frame  a  consti- 
tution, prescribing  the  mode  of  doing  it  and  the  conditions 
under  which  admission  should  take  place.  If  the  people  then 
framed  a  constitution,  it  was  submitted  to  Congress  for 
approval,  and  if  approved  the  Territory  was  admitted  as  a 
State.  The  anomaly  of  the  California  proceedings  was  at 
once  objected  to  by  many;  but  the  real  opposition  came  from 
the  South,  for  the  reason  that  the  thus  far  existing  equilibrium 
between  the  Free  and  Slave  States  would  be  destroyed.  The 
more  the  South  resisted  the  admission,  the  more  did  the  North 
urge  it.  At  the  same  time  it  also  became  necessary  to  provide 
Territorial  governments  for  New  Mexico  and  Utah,  —  the  Mor- 
mon settlement  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  called  by  them 
Deseret,  —  and  here  another  disturbing  question  sprang  up 
as  to  whether  the  Territorial  acts  should  forbid  slavery  by  the 
"Wilmot  Proviso"  or  not. 

The  South  was  opposed  to  the  Proviso.  Most  of  the 
Northerners  favored  it.  Texas  about  that  time  claimed  that 
a  great  portion  of  southern  New  Mexico  was  originally 
included  within  the  limits  of  the  Mexican  State  of  Texas,  and 


554  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

threatened  to  take  military  possession  of  it.  As  Texas  was 
a  Slave  State,  this  part  of  New  Mexico  would  have  at  once 
become  subject  to  the  institution  of  slavery.  This  claim  was 
most  bitterly  resisted  by  the  North.  The  South  had  for  many 
years  complained  of  the  inefficiency  of  what  was  called  the 
old  Fugitive  Slave  Law  of  1793,  which  was  enacted  at  an  early 
day  in  pursuance  of  the  constitutional  provision  requiring 
the  extradition  of  fugitive  slaves.  They  proposed  one  in  some 
respects  far  more  stringent,  in  other  respects  really  furnish- 
ing better  security  to  the  fugitive  against  irregular  and  unjust 
arrest.  Yet  at  this  particular  time  it  was  another  firebrand. 
The  debates  in  Congress  grew  most  excited.  There  were  per- 
sonal encounters.  Disunion  was  openly  preached  by  the  most 
extreme  Southerners.  A  convention  of  citizens  from  the  Slave 
States  at  Nashville  had  been  called,  the  result  of  whose  delib- 
erations was  anxiously  looked  for.  Both  Colonel  Bissell  and 
Shields  wrote  me  alarming  letters.  I  did  not  believe  that  the 
South  was  in  earnest  about  secession,  and  in  fact  a  good  many 
Southerners  disclaimed  any  plan  or  conspiracy  to  break  up  the 
Union.  But  a  large  majority  of  the  members  of  Congress  and 
of  the  people  in  the  East  claimed  to  believe  that  civil  war  was 
imminent. 

In  the  course  of  the  debates  most  offensive  and  insulting 
language  was  frequently  used.  The  men  of  the  North  were 
told  that  they  were  men  without  courage,  that  they  would 
shrink  from  meeting  the  chivalry  of  the  South,  and  Seddon,  a 
member  from  Virginia  at  one  time,  to  illustrate  Northern 
cowardice,  referred  to  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  where,  as  he 
said,  the  troops  from  the  North  had  run  from  the  battle-field, 
and  where  one  Southern  regiment  —  the  Mississippi  Rifles, 
under  Col.  Jefferson  Davis  —  had  snatched  victory  from  the 
jaws  of  defeat. 

Now  this  was  more  than  Bissell  could  stand.  On  the  26th 
of  March,  1850,  Bissell  replied  to  Seddon  in  a  masterly  speech, 
which  for  clearness  of  statement,  chaste,  pure  language,  true 
logic,  felicity  of  expression,  polished  sarcasm,  may  have  been 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  555 

equaled  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  but  surely  ever  surpassed. 
Its  effect  was  immense.  Seventy-five  thousand  extra  copies 
were  ordered  by  the  members  of  Congress  for  distribution. 
Shields  wrote  me  about  it,  praising  it  in  the  highest  terms. 
"And  what  is  most  strange,"  Shields  remarked,  "Bissell  did 
not  seem  to  know  how  great  a  speech  he  had  made.  He  was 
the  most  astonished  man  in  the  world  when  he  heard  of  his 
success."  With  some  modification,  Byron's  remark  after  the 
publication  of  the  first  cantos  of  his  ' '  Childe  Harold ' '  and  the 
enthusiastic  reception  of  it  by  the  English  public :  "I  awoke 
one  morning  and  found  myself  famous,"  might  have  been 
applied  to  Bissell.  In  Illinois  his  great  ability  had  been  rec- 
ognized for  years,  but  not  yet  in  the  other  States  of  the  Union. 
One  of  the  finest  passages  of  his  speech  gave  rise  to  a  very 
exciting  incident.  Colonel  Bissell  said : 

"It  gives  me  no  pleasure,  sir,  to  be  compelled  to  allude 
to  this  subject,  nor  can  I  perceive  the  propriety  or  necessity 
of  its  introduction  into  this  debate.  But,  it  having  been  done, 
I  could  not  sit  in  silence  and  witness  the  infliction  of  such 
cruel  injustice  upon  men  living  and  dead  whose  well  earned 
fame  I  were  a  monster  not  to  protect.  The  true  and  brave 
hearts  —  alas  —  of  too  many  of  them  have  already  mingled 
with  the  soil  of  a  foreign  country.  But  their  claim  upon  the 
justice  of  their  countrymen  can  never  cease,  nor  can  my  obli- 
gation to  them  be  ever  forgotten  nor  disregarded.  No,  sir! 
the  voice  of  a  Hardin,  that  eloquent  voice  so  often  heard  in 
this  hall,  as  mine  is  now,  though  far  more  eloquent,  the  voices 
of  McKee  and  of  the  accomplished  Clay,  each  wrapped  now 
in  his  bloody  shroud,  —  their  voices  would  reproach  me  from 
their  graves  if  I  had  failed  in  this  act  of  faith  to  them  and  the 
others  who  fought  and  fell  by  my  side.  You  may  suspect  me, 
Mr.  Chairman,  of  having  warm  feelings  on  this  subject.  So  I 
have,  and  I  have  given  them  utterance  as  a  matter  of  duty. 
In  all  this,  however,  I  by  no  means  detract  from  the  gallant 
conduct  and  bearing  of  the  Mississippi  regiment. 

"At  other  times  and  places  on  that  bloody  field  they  did 
all  their  warmest  admirers  could  have  wished,  but  I  ask  again : 
Why  has  this  subject  been  dragged  into  the  debate?  Why  is 
all  this  that  the  member  from  Virginia  says,  *The  troops  of 
the  North  gave  way,'  when  he  means  only  one  regiment? 


556  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Why  is  all  this  but  for  the  purpose  of  disparaging  the  North 
for  the  benefit  of  the  South.  Why,  but  furnishing  material 
for  the  ceaseless,  never-ending,  eternal  theme  of  Southern 
chivalry  ?  Mr.  Chairman !  The  people  of  the  Free  States  have 
as  strong  an  attachment  for  their  brethren  of  the  South  at  this 
moment  as  they  had  during  the  days  of  the  Revolution,  or  any 
subsequent  period,  and  they  will  not  suffer  that  attachment  to 
be  destroyed  by  disunionists  or  designing  men  in  the  North  or 
in  the  South.  We  have  our  disunionists  in  the  North,  and 
they  annoy  us  not  a  little.  Were  your  troublesome  men  in  the 
North  they  would  be  called  the  Garrisons,  the  Tappans,  the 
Gerrit  Smiths;  and  were  our  Garrisons,  Tappans  and  Gerrit 
Smiths  in  the  South  they  would  be  the  disunionists  to  be 
guarded  against  by  the  moderate  men  of  all  parties.  I  tell 
you,  sir,  that  we,  the  representatives  of  the  North,  will  aid  you 
to  preserve  your  constitutional  rights  as  we  have  ever  done. 
We  are  not  alienated  from  you,  nor  have  ultra-men  yet  driven 
us  entirely  to  the  wall.  We  are  ready  to  meet  you  on  any 
fair  ground  and  fight  with  you  side  by  side  for  your  rights  and 
ours  and  defend  those  rights  under  the  Constitution  from 
encroachment  from  any  quarter.  But,  sir,  we  want  to  hear 
no  more  about  disunion.  We  are  attached  to  the  Constitution, 
—  aye,  we  are  devotedly  attached  to  it.  We  regard  it  as  the 
ark  of  the  safety  of  the  American  people,  —  we  know  that  the 
realization  of  the  hope  for  human  freedom  depends  upon  its 
perpetuity.  And  shall  we  ruthlessly  crush  that  hope  forever? 
Shall  we  extinguish  that  beacon-light  which  our  fathers  raised 
to  cheer  and  guide  the  friends  of  freedom  ?  I  know  the  people 
of  my  State.  I  know  the  people  of  the  great  West  and  North- 
west. I  know  their  devotion  for  the  American  Union.  And 
I  feel  warranted  in  saying,  in  my  place  here,  that,  when  you 
talk  of  destroying  the  Union,  there  is  not  one  man  in  that 
vast  region  who  will  not  raise  his  hand  and  swear  by  the 
Eternal  God,  as  I  do  now,  —  it  shall  never  be,  if  our  arms  can 
save  it.  Illinois  offered  to  the  country  nine  regiments  to  aid 
in  the  vindication  of  her  rights  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  and 
should  danger  threaten  the  Union,  from  any  source  or  any 
quarter,  in  the  North  or  in  the  South,  she  will  be  ready  to 
furnish  thrice,  nay!  four  times  that  number  to  march  where 
that  danger  may  be,  return  when  it  is  passed,  or  return  no 
more. ' ' 

Bissell  having  stated  in  his  speech  that  at  the  critical 
moment  of  the  battle  Seddon  had  alluded  to,  the  Mississippi 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  557 

regiment  was  not  even  in  sight,  Jeff  Davis,  the  colonel  of  that 
regiment,  and  now  a  member  of  the  Senate,  pretended  to  take 
offense  at  this  part  of  his  speech,  and  demanded  that  Bissell 
should  retract,  —  which  Bissell  declined.  Davis  sent  him  a 
challenge.  Bissell  accepted  it,  and  according  to  the  rules  then 
prevailing  in  this  country  fixed  the  conditions:  Muskets, 
loaded  with  ball  and  two  buckshots,  fifty  paces  distant,  with 
privilege  to  advance  within  ten.  President  Taylor,  the  father- 
in-law  of  Davis,  however,  got  wind  of  the  intended  duel, 
threatened  to  have  Davis  arrested  and  got  Davis 's  seconds  to 
try  to  compromise.  Shields  and  Colonel  Richardson  of  Illi- 
nois were  Bissell 's  seconds.  Finally,  all  the  satisfaction  Davis 
demanded  was  that  Bissell  should  declare  that  he  did  not  mean 
any  personal  insult  to  Davis.  Of  course,  Bissell  could  do  that 
safely,  as  there  was  not  a  word  in  his  speech  that  could  be 
construed  even  as  an  allusion  to  Davis.  The  fact  was  that 
the  speech  had  hurt  badly  the  Southern  fire-eaters  whom 
Bissell  had  denounced  as  traitors  and  conspirators  and  whom 
their  own  constituents  would  disavow.  It  was  supposed  that 
Bissell,  as  a  Northern  man,  would  not  fight,  and  that  Southern 
chivalry  would  be  vindicated.  As  it  turned  out,  it  raised  Bis- 
sell still  more  in  the  estimation  of  the  people.  The  speech, 
from  mere  curiosity,  was  sought  after,  North  and  South.  It 
is  my  opinion  that  if  Bissell 's  health  had  not  been  soon  there- 
after greatly  impaired,  and  if  he  had  not  become  an  almost 
helpless  invalid,  he  would  have  become  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

Shields  a  little  later  made  an  excellent  speech,  upon  which 
he  was  complimented  by  such  men  as  Clay  and  "Webster.  To 
my  surprise  it  did  not  show  any  passion.  It  was  full  of  well- 
considered  thoughts  and  of  wide  and  statesmanlike  views,  not 
without  irony,  but  on  the  whole  conciliatory.  He  was,  the 
same  as  Bissell,  for  the  immediate  admission  of  California,  and 
also,  by  provision  from  the  Legislature,  for  an  express  prohi- 
bition of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  though  he  intimated,  as  did 
Webster,  Clay,  Benton,  and  several  other  Northern  Senators, 


558 

that,  as  the  Territories  had  been  free  under  the  Mexican  law, 
they  remained  free  under  our  law.  The  idea  that  our  Con- 
stitution carried  slavery  into  all  the  newly  acquired  Territories 
and  that  all  people  alike  had  a  right  to  go  into  them  with  their 
property,  including  slaves,  and  could  hold  them  until  a  State 
was  formed  forbidding  slavery,  he  not  only  refuted  but  effec- 
tively ridiculed.  As  for  slaves  being  property  like  horses 
and  mules,  he  emphatically  denied.  Slaves  are  as  regards 
their  bodies  property,  so  made  by  positive  law,  but  they  are 
nevertheless  not  property  in  the  general  sense.  They  have 
souls,  he  said.  Our  Constitution  allows  them  to  be  repre- 
sented. Each  negro  counts  for  two-fifths  of  a  white  man  in 
our  national  representation.  If  you  kill  them,  you  commit 
murder  and  you  suffer  the  penalty  of  death.  And  there  is  no 
slavery  anywhere  except  where  the  stronger  race  has  intro- 
duced it  by  positive  laws.  "Freedom  is  the  rule,  slavery  the 
exception. ' '  He  used  the  identical  words  which  in  later  years 
became  the  motto  of  the  Eepublican  party  and  were  inserted 
in  the  platform  on  which  Lincoln  was  elected. 

I  took  the  pains  of  fully  translating  both  speeches  for 
the  ' '  Belleviller  Zeitung."  Bissell  wrote  to  me  from  Wash- 
ington : 

"I  am  under  obligations  to  you  more  than  I  can  express 
for  the  trouble  and  labor  you  bestowed  upon  my  speech.  I 
appreciated  it  as  a  noble  act  of  friendship,  which  I  trust  not 
to  forget.  It  has  done  me  good  service,  as  you  intended  it 
should." 

It  is  often  said  that  in  modern  times  real  friendship  is 
much  less  frequently  formed  than  in  times  past.  It  is  quite 
true  that  feelings  of  friendship  are  less  gushingly  and  senti- 
mentally expressed  now  than  they  used  to  be.  But  speaking 
from  my  own  experience  I  am  satisfied  that  true  friendships 
occur  probably  as  often  as  before.  I  have  had  friends  who 
would  have  done  and  did  do  for  me  everything  they  could  in 
honor  do,  irrespective  of  their  own  interests.  William  H. 
Bissell  was  one  of  them. 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  559 

All  during  this  session  of  Congress  there  was  a  succession 
of  excited  debates.  The  whole  country  was  agitated,  until  at 
last,  principally  through  the  influence  of  Henry  Clay,  a  sort 
of  compromise  was  reached.  California  was  admitted  as  a 
Free  State,  and  Fremont  and  Gwinn  took  their  places  as 
Senators  from  that  State.  The  Territories  of  New  Mexico 
and  Utah  were  organized  without  the  "Wilmot  Proviso." 
Texas,  instead  of  getting  a  part  of  New  Mexico,  a  most  unten- 
able claim,  was  indemnified  with  ten  millions  of  dollars. 
Slavery  was  not  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  but  the 
slave  trade  was,  and  an  amended  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  giving 
the  Federal  courts  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  question  of 
the  extradition  of  runaway  slaves,  was  passed.  The  old  law 
had  given  concurrent  jurisdiction  to  State  judges  and  even 
to  all  justices  of  the  peace,  which  latter  officers  were  very 
incompetent  and  improper  persons  to  decide  upon  questions  of 
such  magnitude. 

With  the  passage  of  all  these  measures  quiet  was  restored, 
and  it  was  hoped,  but  vainly  so,  that  there  would  be  a  final 
end  to  the  disturbing  slavery  question. 

In  July  President  Taylor  died,  and  the  Vice-President, 
Fillmore,  took  his  place.  Webster  became  his  Secretary  of 
State.  John  C.  Calhoun  had  not  participated  in  the  legis- 
lative struggles  of  this  session.  He  was  from  the  commence- 
ment of  it  on  the  sick  bed,  and  he  died  on  the  first  of  April, 
1850. 

NEW  ARRIVALS  IN  BELLEVILLE 

Belleville  and  St.  Clair  County  received  a  very  desirable 
part  of  the  immigration  of  1849  and  1850,  amongst  others 
P.  J.  Osterhaus,  who  greatly  distinguished  himself  in  the  war 
for  the  Union.  From  colonel  of  the  Twelfth  Missouri  he  ad- 
vanced to  brigadier-general,  and  finally  to  major-general. 
General  Halleek,  the  commander-m-chief  of  our  armies,  a 
West  Pointer,  who  was  suspected  at  least  of  strong  American 
feeling,  told  me  himself  that  Osterhaus  was  one  of  the  best 


560  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

generals  in  the  army.  He  brought  his  family  along.  Fred 
Tiedemann,  Colonel  Stephani,  August  Mersy,  colonel  of  the 
Ninth  Illinois  in  the  Union  War,  and  generally  commanding 
a  brigade,  the  family  of  Eisenhardt,  (Mrs.  Hecker  was  a  sis- 
ter of  Eisenhardt,)  all  made  Belleville  their  residence. 

On  the  llth  of  September  our  little  Fritzchen  was  born, 
a  beautiful  and  lively  child,  but  alas!  not  to  be  our  joy  for 
long. 

Late  one  evening  in  November  I  received  a  message  from 
Winter's  Hotel,  that  a  gentleman  who  had  just  arrived  but 
was  quite  ill,  would  be  very  glad  to  see  me  at  once.  Entering 
the  bar-room,  whom  should  I  find  but  my  old  friend  Ernest 
Thilenius,  who  had  been  for  some  years  in  Indiana,  but  had 
never  seen  me,  and  had  returned,  as  already  stated,  in  disgust, 
to  Germany.  I  had  not  seen  him  for  twenty  years;  still  he 
was  the  same  tall,  well-built,  handsome  man,  with  his  abund- 
ant auburn  curly  hair  and  his  large  blue  eyes.  But  his  face 
was  somewhat  emaciated  and  his  clear  white  cheeks  had  rose- 
ate spots,  indicating  that  the  terrible  disease  which  had  car- 
ried off  his  brothers  Rudolph  and  Otto  had  also  taken  hold 
of  him.  I  had  also  learned  that  he  had  become  divorced  from 
his  wife,  she  having  become  insane,  and  therefore  was  much 
surprised  when  he  invited  me  to  come  upstairs  to  see  his 
"wife."  "Are  you  married  again?"  "Yes.  And  Emma, 
my  young  wife,  is  a  daughter  of  your  old  warm  friend,  my 
sister  Matilda."  We  went  up.  Emma  was  reclining  on  a 
sofa,  and  appeared  very  much  fatigued.  After  awhile  she 
joined  in  the  conversation,  which  became  quite  lively,  as 
Ernest  was  a  great  talker  and  had  much  to  relate,  explaining 
his  coming  and  his  condition  generally.  Emma  was  a  brunette, 
well  but  slenderly  built,  had  the  dark  brown  eyes  of  her 
mother,  blue  black  hair,  and  was  very  graceful  in  all  her 
movements.  Her  features  without  being  beautiful  were  highly 
pleasing.  There  was  a  kind  of  magnetism  about  her,  which 
at  once  attracted  people.  She  had  been  for  several  years  with 


THE  YEARS  1849-1850  561 

her  aunt,  Charlotte  Von  Haus,  at  Augsburg,  where  her  educa- 
tion was  carefully  attended  to  and  her  musical  talent  greatly 
developed.  She  was  a  fine  piano  player  and  possessed  a 
charming  mezzo-soprano  voice,  highly  cultivated.  What  made 
her  singing  so  effective  was  the  feeling  she  threw  into  her 
songs  and  ballads.  I  never  heard  the  sweet  melodies  of  Schu- 
bert, Mendelssohn,  and  Abt  better  rendered  than  by  Emma. 
Thilenius,  after  his  return  and  separation  from  his  first  wife, 
had  taken  up  his  former  profession,  had  gone  to  Rome,  been 
much  in  artistic  circles,  and  had  become  a  kind  of  Bohemian. 
What  made  him  go  back  to  Germany  and  marry  Emma  he 
never  disclosed,  though  he  made  no  secret  of  his  present  con- 
dition. He  had  only  a  small  amount  of  money  at  his  present 
disposal,  but  received  a  limited  annuity  from  some  source. 
He  intended  to  give  lessons  in  drawing  and  painting,  and 
Emma  might  try  to  teach  music. 

I  invited  them  at  once  to  stay  at  our  house  until  they 
could  find  convenient  lodgings.  They  came  and  staid  some 
weeks,  until  they  rented  a  small  house  not  far  from  our  own, 
surrounded  by  a  large  lawn  with  groves  of  tall  forest  trees. 
Theodore,  Augusta  and  Mary  at  once  took  lessons  in  drawing 
and  painting,  and  Mary  also  in  music.  Ernest  was  really  a 
very  skilful  master,  and  Mary  made  rapid  progress  in  music 
under  the  teaching  of  Emma. 

Early  in  the  spring  Mr.  Theodore  Hilgard,  Sr.,  had  gone 
to  Germany  accompanied  by  his  youngest  daughter  Theresa, 
who  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  Theodore,  the  youngest 
Tittmann.  The  marriage  took  place  at  Heidelberg,  from 
where  the  young  pair  went  to  Dresden,. the  residence  of  Titt- 
mann, where  he  held  an  official  station.  Mr.  Hilgard  visited 
Pauline  and  Charles  in  Frankfort  and  convinced  himself  that 
Pauline's  health  would  under  no  circumstances  permit  her 
to  risk  coming  over  to  America.  He,  however,  gave  such  a 
flattering  description  of  Sophie  and  our  family  that  Pauline 
was  somewhat  consoled  in  her  disappointment. 


562  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

HIGH  SCHOOL  AT  BELLEVILLE 

The  free  school  system  had  not  yet  been  adopted  by  our 
State,  and  the  schools,  which  were  kept  by  examined  teachers 
and  received  some  little  assistance  from  a  school  fund,  spring- 
ing from  the  sale  of  lands  donated  by  the  United  States  to  the 
State,  were  merely  elementary.  The  German  citizens  of  Belle- 
ville felt  the  want  of  a  higher  school.  What  it  would  receive 
from  the  general  school  fund  would  amount  to  but  a  few 
hundred  dollars;  so  they  invited  citizens,  both  German  and 
American,  to  form  a  school-association  by  taking  stock  suf- 
ficient to  rent  adequate  rooms,  employ  well  qualified  teachers, 
and  equip  the  school  with  the  necessary  furniture  and  ap- 
paratus. By  dint  of  much  exertion  we  succeeded  and  em- 
ployed an  experienced  teacher  and  his  wife  (Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Edwards)  for  the  higher  branches  of  English  education,  and 
also  a  very  accomplished  teacher  for  the  German  language; 
for  history  and  geography,  Mr.  Charles  Rau,  who  had  an 
excellent  university  education,  was  engaged.  His  real  profes- 
sion was  that  of  geologist,  chemist,  and  mineralogist,  but  he 
had  not  been  able  yet  to  find  a  proper  field  for  the  exercise  of 
it.  He  was  somewhat  eccentric,  but  a  very  conscientious 
teacher,  and,  the  German  library  having  been  by  that  time 
removed  to  Belleville,  he  was  appointed  librarian.  Some  years 
later  he  got  an  appointment  to  Washington  in  the  Smithsonian 
Institute,  was  made  a  member  of  several  learned  societies, 
and  published  valuable  scientific  papers.  Theodore,  Mary  and 
Augusta  went  to  this  independent  school;  but  Mr.  Edward 
Wyman  having  established  a  high  school  at  St.  Louis,  which 
had  gained  much  reputation,  we  sent  our  Theodore  to  St. 
Louis  in  1853,  where  he  stayed  with  Caroline,  who  some  time 
after  the  death  of  her  husband  had  engaged  in  keeping  a 
private  boarding-house,  which  was  patronized  by  a  very  select 
set  of  Germans. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
The  Year  1851 

Early  in  1851  we  had  to  lament  the  loss  of  Charles  Titt- 
mann.  He  died  of  an  inflammation  of  the  throat,  which, 
while  watching  over  the  sick  bed  of  his  young  child,  he  had 
entirely  neglected  until  it  was  utterly  beyond  medical  aid. 
His  death  was  a  great  loss,,  not  only  to  his  family  and  friends, 
but  to  our  community ;  for  he  was  a  man  not  only  of  uncom- 
mon capacity  and  integrity,  but  also  of  great  public  spirit. 
Clara  was  almost  disconsolate.  She  longed  to  be  away  from 
the  place  where  she  had  just  lost  her  child  and  husband,  and 
her  father.  Mr.  Hilgard  took  her  in  the  summer  to  Germany, 
where  she  was  to  join  her  sister  Theresa  at  Dresden. 

Though  there  was  no  election  this  year,  save  a  special 
one  in  the  fall  in  our  State,  yet  it  seemed  almost  impossible 
for  the  country  to  be  quiet  and  without  excitement.  The 
Presidential  election  was  not  due  till  November,  1852,  yet 
there  was  much  agitation  in  regard  to  it  already.  Fillmore 
and  his  Cabinet  traveled  around  making  speeches  on  all  and 
on  no  occasions.  General  Scott  was  early  in  the  field,  writing 
letters  and  getting  resolutions  passed  by  public  meetings  in 
his  favor.  Douglas,  on  the  part  of  the  Democrats,  was  also 
visiting  agricultural  fairs,  enlightening  the  farmers  on  the 
subject  of  raising  stock  and  extolling  their  pursuits  generally. 
He  was  undoubtedly  the  favorite  of  the  young  Democracy  of 
the  Northwest.  A  great  many  papers  had  already  come  out 
for  the  "Little  Giant,"  as  he  had  been  named  in  allusion  to 
his  small  stature. 


564  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

POLITICAL  AND  BUSINESS  ACTIVITY 

The  special  election  spoken  of  was  on  the  Free  Banking 
Law  passed  by  our  late  Legislature,  which  under  a  provision 
of  our  new  Constitution  was  to  be  submitted  to  the  people  for 
approval  or  disapproval.  It  was  a  most  pernicious  measure. 
It  allowed  anybody  to  start  a  bank,  and,  on  depositing  United 
States  bonds,  to  issue  an  amount  of  currency  equal  to  the 
nominal  value  of  the  bonds,  and  to  do  the  same  on  other  bonds 
of  States  paying  interest,  but  allowing  a  margin,  so  that  for  one 
hundred  dollars,  only  ninety  dollars  could  be  issued.  Con- 
sidering that  a  currency  resting  only  on  bonds,  liable  to  fluctu- 
ations by  war,  or  by  bad  legislation  or  defalcations  of  State 
treasurers,  was  a  very  insecure  one,  the  inflation  of  the  cur- 
rency would  of  itself  work  incalculable  mischief.  There  was 
no  limit  to  the  number  of  banks,  and  within  a  few  years  some 
fifty  banks  were  started,  all  anxious  to  do  business,  and,  though 
driving  out  the  gold  and  silver,  still  inducing  people  to  go  into 
all  sorts  of  speculations.  The  Democratic  Governor,  A.  C. 
French,  had  in  vain  vetoed  the  bill  and  most  ably  shown  its 
fatal  consequences.  It  was  passed  over  his  veto  by  the  Legis- 
lature. Now  the  case  had  to  be  argued  before  the  people,  as 
the  voting  on  the  law  was  set  for  November.  The  Democratic 
party  as  a  whole  denounced  it.  I  took  a  very  active  stand 
against  it;  and  wrote  many  articles  in  our  English  and  Ger- 
man papers.  While  on  the  circuit,  I  got  up  meetings  in  the 
adjoining  counties,  and  made  numerous  speeches  against  it; 
yet  it  received  a  majority  of  over  five  thousand  votes  in  the 
State.  The  Whigs,  almost  to  a  man,  supported  it,  and  were 
exceedingly  active  in  getting  out  their  party  vote.  In  the 
North,  however,  a  good  many  Democrats  had  caught  the 
bank  fever.  It  being  a  special  election,  the  country  people 
did  not  take  interest  enough  to  go  to  the  polls ;  otherwise  the 
scheme  would  have  been  defeated.  St.  Clair  County  gave 
nearly  two  thousand  majority  against  it.  In  Belleville  the 
vote  was  eight  hundred  against  and  seventy-six  for  it.  The 
south  voted  strongly  against  it.  This  was  some  personal  satis- 


THE  YEAR  1851  565 

faction ;  but  in  a  few  years  the  entire  crash  of  the  whole  sys- 
tem, causing  a  general  bankruptcy  throughout  the  State,  was 
a  sad,  but  a  thorough,  vindication  of  my  course. 

Another  matter  of  more  local  importance,  involving  much 
writing,  speaking  and  traveling  on  my  part,  was  the  laying 
out  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad  from  Vincennes  to 
St.  Louis  and  the  running  of  it  some  four  miles  north  of 
Belleville.  The  survey  of  the  road  had  taken  it  into  every 
county-seat  east  of  Belleville;  but,  although  an  airline  would 
have  taken  it  only  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Belleville,  by  the 
exertions  of  Colonel  O'Fallon,  of  St.  Louis,  who  owned  large 
coal  mines  at  Caseyville,  and  who  would  not  take  stock  in  it 
unless  it  was  carried  through  this  place,  containing  a  few 
shanties  only,  the  road  was  actually  built  away  from  Belle- 
ville. Belleville  proposed  to  take  as  much  stock  as  O'Fallon, 
but  other  speculators,  (even  Don  Morrison  from  Belleville 
had  made  large  entries  of  land  on  the  Caseyville  line,)  worked 
secretly  against  Belleville.  Many  meetings  were  held,  com- 
mittees appointed,  all  the  directors  were  called  on,  and  con- 
ferences were  had  with  the  mayor  and  other  prominent  citi- 
zens of  St.  Louis. 

As  next  year  a  State  election  was  to  take  place  for  Gov- 
ernor, Lieutenant-Governor  and  other  State  officers,  and  also 
for  members  of  Congress,  there  was  of  course  some  agitation 
going  on  during  this  year.  I  received  numerous  letters  in 
which  I  was  asked  to  be  a  candidate  for  Governor,  to  which  I 
replied  in  the  negative.  Our  wise  Constitution  of  1848  had 
reduced  the  salary  of  Governor  to  the  pitiful  sum  of  fifteen 
hundred  dollars,  requiring  him  at  the  same  time  to  reside  at 
the  seat  of  government.  None  but  a  rich  man  could  take  the 
office,  so  for  that  reason  alone  I  should  not  have  accepted  it 
if  it  had  been  presented  to  me.  Other  candidates  for  that 
office  plied  me  with  letters  asking  me  for  my  support,  but  I 
thought  it  was  too  early  in  the  day  to  commit  myself.  I  was 
well  satisfied  with  my  practice  and  happy  to  be  during  the 


566  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

larger  part  of  the  year  amongst  my  family  and  friends  at 
home. 

THE  GERMAN  REFORMERS  AGAIN 

Yet  my  repose  at  home  was  occasionally  somewhat  dis- 
turbed by  my  controversies  with  the  German  reformers,  who 
sought  to  teach  us  Republicanism.  I  had  severely  attacked 
the  charlatan  Boernstein,  and  he  of  course  had  opened  his 
mud  batteries  upon  me.  I  have  already  remarked  that  Hein- 
zen  soon  entered  into  the  contest,  and  in  Hassaurek,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, who  had  got  hold  of  a  paper  there,  I  met  a  new  op- 
ponent. Thus  far  all  these  pseudo-reformers  had  dealt  in 
general  high  sounding  phrases,  only  abusing  our  Constitution 
and  laws;  but  of  late  they  had  published  definite  programs 
of  their  principles,  which  of  course  gave  me  an  easy  victory 
over  them,  they  being  so  palpably  absurd  that  they  were 
favorite  marks  for  irony  and  ridicule. 

Heinzen's  program  was  something  like  this: 

1.  Representatives  can  be  recalled  by  their  constituents 
at  any  time. 

2.  Total  abolition  of  the  Presidency  and  of  the  offices  of 
State  Governors  and  of  the  system  of  two  Houses,  and  the 
conversion  of  the  Federative  Republic  into  a  Republic  One 
and  Indivisible. 

3.  All  land  to  be  free,  and  the  poor  settler  to  be  assisted 
by  the  State. 

4.  No  man  to  be  allowed  to  own  more  land  than  the 
State  permits. 

5.  The  State  to  own  all  railroads  and  to  build  the  rail- 
road to  the  Pacific  at  the  cost  of  the  State. 

6.  Abolition  of  the  policy  of  neutrality,    (the  United 
States  to  intervene  against  the  intervention  as  practised  in 
Europe,)  and  the  instant  abolition  of  slavery. 

7.  No  official  positions  to  be  allowed  to  persons  who  de- 
pend upon  the  Pope. 

8.  In  all  German  schools,  German  teachers  to  be  em- 
ployed. 

9.  A  German  University  to  be  established  at  the  expense 
of  the  Government. 

10.  Abolition  of  penitentiaries  and  the  changing  of  them 
into  houses  of  reform. 


THE  YEAR  1851  567 

After  I  had  briefly  criticized  this  program,  I  wrote  as 
follows  in  the  "Zeitung:" 

"Hitherto  Heinzen  has  imagined  himself  to  be  the  most 
radical  reformer  in  the  United  States.  But  what  a  mistake! 
Compared  with  Mr.  Hassaurek  he  is  a  mere  bungler ;  Heinzen 
is  played  out.  He  may  retire  in  peace  from  the  field  of  rad- 
ical progress.  He  has  badly  misunderstood  what  our  country 
demands.  He  belongs  to  the  era  of  the  powdered  wigs  and 
long  queues.  Hassaurek  is  a  different  sort  of  a  man.  Hear 
him: 

"1.  All  salaries  shall  be  the  same,  so  that  even  the  high- 
est officer  of  the  State  shall  receive  no  more  per  week  than  a 
good  workman. 

"2.  No  two  Houses  of  the  Legislature,  no  Governor,  no 
President,  no  oath  on  the  Bible  to  be  allowed. 

"3.     Prohibition  of  marriage  by  priests. 

"4.  No  postage  for  journals,  and  none  for  letters  sent 
within  a  country. 

"5.     The  United  States  to  own  all  railroads. 

' '  6.  Abolition  of  neutrality,  and  intervention  in  favor  of 
Republics. 

"7.  German  teachers  to  be  employed  in  all  schools.  Es- 
tablishment of  a  German  University  by  the  State. 

"8.     Rich  men  to  be  taxed  to  the  utmost  limits. 

"9.     The  wages  of  laborers  to  be  increased. 

"10.  Penitentiaries  to  be  changed  to  humane  houses  of 
reformation. 

"11.  A  term  to  be  fixed  for  the  abolition  of  slavery.  All 
children  of  slaves  shall  be  free  and  are  to  be  educated  by  the 
slaveholding  States." 

Of  course  I  commented  pretty  sarcastically  upon  Mr. 
Hassaurek 's  program.  What  was,  however,  quite  amusing, 
Mr.  Hassaurek,  replying  in  a  long  article,  complained  that  I 
had  merely  ridiculed  his  principles,  but  had  failed  to  prove 
their  incorrectness. 

Having  broken  the  ice  and  having  handled  without 
gloves  the  ignorance,  the  arrogance,  the  insolence  and  char- 
latanism of  these  would-be  reformers,  I  was  soon  very  ably 
supported  by  the  principal  German  papers,  such  as  the  "Welt- 
buerger"  (Cosmopolitan)  in  Buffalo,  edited  by  Dr.  Brunk, 


568  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  "New  Yorker  Staatszeitung, "  the  "St.  Louis  German 
Tribune,"  edited  by  a  former  member  of  the  Frankfort  Parlia- 
ment, the  "Gradaus"  (Straightforward),  edited  by  Messrs. 
Schmidt  and  Reichart,  also  ex-members  of  Parliament,  and 
the  "Illinois  Staatszeitung,"  edited  by  George  Schneider,  an 
exile,  and  like  the  two  last  named  condemned  to  death,  (in 
their  absence  fortunately,)  by  the  courts  in  Rhenish  Bavaria. 
The  articles  of  the  "Belleviller  Zeitung"  were  largely  copied 
in  these  important  papers,  and  it  was  not  long  before  most  of 
these  fantastic  reformers  regained  their  common  sense. 

THE    CUBAN   EXPEDITION 

In  the  summer  a  tremendous  excitement  sprang  up.  Gen- 
eral Narcisso  Lopez,  a  native  of  Venezuela,  but  who  had  been 
in  the  Spanish  military  service  for  many  years,  had  made 
several  attempts  in  Cuba  to  upset  Spanish  rule,  but  had  failed. 
He  had  taken  refuge  in  the  United  States  and  had  formed  a 
plan  to  invade  Cuba.  According  to  his  representations  Cuba 
was  ripe  for  a  revolution;  if  any  considerable  force  should 
land  on  the  island,  thousands  of  the  best  people  would  join 
it,  and  the  Spanish  government  would  be  easily  overthrown. 
Now  the  annexation  of  Cuba  either  by  treaty  or  by  force  had 
a  large  number  of  advocates  in  the  United  States,  particularly 
in  the  South.  Lopez  and  other  Cubans  were  furnished  means 
to  subsidize  some  presses  in  the  South,  particularly  in  New 
Orleans,  which  represented  the  Spanish  government  as  cruel 
and  tyrannical,  exaggerated,  if  not  invented,  acts  of  oppression, 
of  which,  of  course,  many  were  not  quite  destitute  of  truth. 
The  mischief,  however,  worked  by  these  organs  was  that  they 
made  people  believe  that  an  immense  majority  of  the  Cubans 
were  ready  to  rise  against  their  Spanish  masters,  and  that  all 
that  was  necessary  was  to  give  an  impulse  by  raising  the  ban- 
ner of  independence  at  some  one  of  the  Cuban  forts.  In  this 
way,  a  good  many,  mostly  young  men  from  the  South,  were 
enlisted  in  the  enterprise.  They  found  many  sympathizers, 
mostly  in  New  Orleans.  The  steamship  Pampero  was  char- 


THE  YEAR  1851  569 

tered  and  a  party  of  about  five  hundred  well  armed  and  well 
equipped  men,  amongst  whom  were  some  very  enthusiastic 
and  respectable  lovers  of  liberty,  but  also  a  great  many  ad- 
venturers of  all  nations,  left  New  Orleans  for  Cuba.  The  ul- 
terior plan  of  the  organization  of  this  expedition,  which,  how- 
ever, remained  behind  the  curtain,  was  the  eventual  annexa- 
tion of  Cuba,  to  which  Lopez,  once  the  dictator  of  the  country, 
was  pledged  to  give  his  consent.  The  preparations  for  this 
crusade  were  made  so  openly  that  the  President,  as  he  after- 
wards contended,  had  instructed  the  chief  of  the  custom- 
house, and  the  United  States  attorney  and  marshal,  to  be  on  the 
lookout  and  to  prevent  any  violation  of  international  law. 
Nevertheless,  the  Pampero  left  New  Orleans  unmolested  and 
landed  at  some  point  in  Cuba.  But  Lopez  found  the  people 
indifferent,  even  hostile.  The  little  army  marched  along  the 
coast  to  some  other  point,  but  none  joined  them.  After  a 
few  days'  marching  provisions  gave  out,  and  a  good  many  be- 
came so  exhausted  that  they  had  to  be  left  behind  and  were 
taken  prisoners  by  the  country  people.  At  last  they  met  a 
superior  force  of  Spanish  troops.  A  most  sanguinary  battle 
ensued.  Owing  to  the  much  better  arms  of  the  Lopez  men, 
the  Spaniards  lost  heavily,  but  finally,  after  desperate  fight- 
ing, the  liberators  were  beaten,  many  prisoners  made,  and 
Lopez,  wounded,  with  a  handful  of  men,  escaped  to  the 
mountains,  but  was  soon  after  taken,  and  with  other  Cuban 
prisoners  garroted  at  Havana,  September  1st,  1851.  The 
Spaniards  also  court-martialed  several  Americans  and  had 
them  shot ;  some  hundred  of  them  were  amnestied ;  but  about 
one  hundred  were  condemned  to  hard  labor  for  life,  and  sent 
to  Ceuta,  a  Spanish  penal  fortress  in  Africa. 

When  this  news  reached  New  Orleans  a  mob  gathered 
at  once.  The  house  of  the  Spanish  consul  was  stormed,  the 
Spanish  flag  torn  down,  and  the  consul  narrowly  escaped 
being  lynched.  All  Spanish  stores  were  demolished,  and 
every  Spaniard  the  rioters  could  get  hold  of  badly  maltreated. 
Indignation  meetings  were  held,  and  the  government  was 


570  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

called  upon  to  make  reprisals  upon  Spanish  property.  And 
not  only  in  New  Orleans,  but  in  many  cities  of  the  South  and 
in  some  in  the  North,  similar  meetings  were  held,  and  old 
Governor  Reynolds  managed  to  get  up  a  demonstration  even 
in  Belleville.  He  had  preached  the  annexation  of  Cuba  for 
years.  His  main  argument  was  that  the  "Pearl  of  the  An- 
tilles ' '  was  a  mere  deposit  of  the  mud  which  the  Missouri  and 
the  Mississippi  Rivers  annually  floated  down  from  their  banks. 
It  was  our  soil,  he  claimed,  and  we  had  a  right  to  it.  There 
were  at  that  time  two  small  volunteer  companies  of  militia 
in  Belleville,  one  commanded  by  Captain  Eimer,  a  German 
company,  and  another  commanded  by  Captain  Foulke,  mostly 
Americans.  Reynolds  persuaded  these  captains  to  get  their 
companies  together,  and  to  march  to  the  public  square.  They 
turned  out  with  muffled  drums  and  flags  draped.  Reynolds 
had  produced  a  wagon,  with  a  sort  of  catafalque,  covered 
with  a  black  pall,  which  followed  the  procession.  The  militia 
formed  a  square,  and  Reynolds  thundered  out  one  of  his  pe- 
culiar speeches  against  the  Spanish  devils  and  against  Fill- 
more 's  government  because  they  had  disavowed  the  New 
Orleans  mob  and  had  promised  satisfaction  to  Spain.  The 
sensible  citizens  took  no  part  in  this  indignation-meeting.  In 
fact,  aside  from  the  militia  men  and  the  boys  of  the  town, 
hardly  anyone  participated  in  the  demonstration,  which  made 
the  Old  Ranger  very  mad. 

The  government  acted  very  rigorously.  All  the  govern- 
ment officers,  who  should  have  stopped  the  Pampero  from 
sailing,  were  removed  from  office.  The  Spanish  flag  was 
raised  and  saluted  by  the  firing  of  guns,  and  payment  of 
damages  to  all  Spanish  subjects  was  promised.  At  the  same 
time,  however,  the  government  used  every  effort  to  procure 
the  release  of  the  American  prisoners  from  the  African  for- 
tress. But  it  was  a  good  while  before  Spain  granted  them  a 
pardon. 

This  invasion  was  so  obviously  a  breach  of  international 
law,  that  the  Spaniards  had  made  no  distinction  in  the  treat- 


THE  YEAR  1851  571 

ment  of  the  prisoners,  unless  it  was  that  the  Cubans  were 
garroted  and  the  Americans  were  shot;  and  our  government 
could  make  no  complaint  whatever.  Still,  since  among  the 
unfortunate  were  some  highly  respected  young  men,  some 
even  belonging  to  what  were  called  in  the  South  the  "First 
Families, ' '  —  for  instance,  a  son  of  Senator  Crittenden  of 
Kentucky,  —  it  was  no  wonder  that  a  great  deal  of  sympathy 
was  felt  for  the  victims  of  a  conspiracy  gotten  up  in  the 
South  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  Slave  territory  and 
also  for  financial  speculation.  Millions  of  bonds  had  been 
issued  by  Lopez  as  the  head  of  an  independent  government 
of  Cuba,  and  had  been  sold  at  a  nominal  price  to  the  principal 
movers  of  the  scheme,  which  bonds,  of  course,  if  Lopez  had 
succeeded,  would  have  become  of  value,  and  would  have  filled 
the  pockets  of  the  instigators. 

General  Shields  very  much  surprised  me  about  this  time 
by  a  letter  from  Washington  which  I  will  give  as  a  trait  of 
his  character. 

"As  I  have  turned  poet,  I  wish  you  to  criticize  the  en- 
closed with  the  utmost  severity.  As  I  take  no  pride  in  the 
vocation,  you  need  not  fear  to  offend  me. 

"I  promised  a  very  intelligent  young  lady  to  try  my  hand 
on  an  Irish  song,  as  we  differed  in  opinion  about  the  style  and 
spirit  of  it.  The  enclosed  is  a  copy.  What  think  you  of  it?" 

"To  Henrietta  Mitchell  —  Washington  City. 

' '  Yes !  Dear  Henrietta,  I  think  of  thee  still, 
And  see  thee  in  spirit  in  fountain  and  rill. 
I  hear  thee  in  whispers,  in  prairie  and  grove, 
That  speak  to  my  heart  like  a  spirit  of  love. 

' '  I  dream  while  awake  of  thy  sweet  sunny  smile, 
A  beam  from  the  soil  of  my  own  native  isle. 
I  dream,  while  I  sleep,  of  the  isle  o'er  the  sea 
Where  love  would  be  transport  and  rapture  with  thee. 

"The  eye  and  the  smile  and  the  heart  touching  tone, 
Though  far  from  me  now  are  in  spirit  my  own. 
Thus  fancy  brings  visions  of  love  and  delight 
To  cheer  me  and  bless  me  by  day  and  by  night." 


572  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

This,  however,  was  not  the  first  piece  of  poetry  written 
by  Shields.  In  1837,  when  Canada  was  in  rebellion  against 
England,  Shields,  then  my  partner,  felt  very  much  inclined 
to  join  the  insurgents.  But  Mr.  Snyder  and  myself  dissuaded 
him  from  making  the  attempt.  Shields  had,  however,  already 
written  a  very  stirring  Canadian  war  song,  which  indeed  did 
great  credit  to  his  poetical  talent. 

JEFFERSON  BARRACKS 

In  November  I  made  quite  an  interesting  visit  to  Jefferson 
Barracks.  A  young  gentleman,  not  quite  of  age,  a  relative 
of  a  highly  respectable  family,  who  had  failed  to  find  em- 
ployment in  St.  Louis,  within  a  few  weeks  of  his  arrival,  had 
in  a  fit  of  despondency,  enlisted  himself  as  a  recruit  in  the 
United  States  army,  had  been  taken  to  Jefferson  Barracks, 
where  he  had  fallen  sick  and  was  in  the  hospital.  Not  being 
of  age  when  he  enlisted,  he  could  have  been  discharged  by 
proceedings  under  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act.  I  was  requested 
by  his  family  to  use  my  best  efforts  to  get  him  released.  I 
thought  by  representing  the  matter  properly  to  the  command- 
ing officer  and  proving  his  age,  he  might  be  dismissed  without 
troublesome  legal  proceedings;  so  I  went  over  to  St.  Louis, 
where  I  met  General  Shields  at  the  Planters'  House.  I  told 
him  of  the  business  I  had  at  the  Barracks,  and  he  at  once 
offered  to  accompany  me.  So  next  morning,  it  being  a  Sun- 
day, we  drove  out  pretty  early.  Arriving  there,  some  of  the 
officers,  knowing  Shields,  received  us  very  cordially. 

I  at  once  stated  the  object  of  my  visit  to  the  command- 
ant, —  Major  Fitz-John  Porter,  I  believe,  who  afterwards 
became  one  of  the  most  distinguished  Union  generals,  but  was 
made  responsible  for  Pope's  defeat  at  the  second  Bull  Run 
battle,  and  by  a  partisan  court  found  guilty  of  disloyalty  and 
dismissed  from  the  service,  though  finally  vindicated  by  an- 
other court  and  at  last  restored  to  his  rank.  He  went  with 
me  to  see  the  young  man,  who  was  still  on  his  sick  bed.  He 
stated  his  age,  (I  had  also  affidavits  to  prove  it,)  and  the 


THE  YEAR  1851  573 

circumstances  under  which  he  enlisted.  Porter  said  he  eould 
not  at  once  discharge  him.  That  had  to  go  through  a  certain 
routine  at  Washington.  But  I  need  not  apply  for  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  The  surgeon  would  make  out  a  certificate 
of  his  being  sick,  and  that  his  family  would  take  care  of  him, 
and  he  would  at  once  give  him  a  leave  of  absence.  He  might 
be  sent  for  in  the  morning.  In  the  meantime,  a  major-gen- 
eral 's  salute  was  fired  in  honor  of  General  Shields,  and  at  noon 
there  was  a  dress  parade.  There  was  quite  a  force  then  at  the 
Barracks,  a  battalion  of  infantry,  some  two  or  three  companies 
of  rifles,  a  very  fine-looking  corps,  and  two  batteries  of  light 
artillery.  At  two  we  sat  down  to  a  most  sumptuous  dinner, 
excellent  wines  and  champagne  in  abundance.  There  were 
about  a  dozen  officers,  amongst  them  Major  Braxton  Bragg, 
who  was  a  leading  Confederate  general  during  the  Civil  War. 
He  was  a  rather  tall,  dark-complexioned  man,  with  brilliant 
eyes,  and  a  face  showing  intellect  and  energy.  One  of  the 
anecdotes  circulating  about  General  Taylor  when  he  was  a 
candidate  for  President  was,  that  at  the  battle  of  Buena 
Vista  he  rode  up  to  Captain  Bragg,  then  commanding  a  bat- 
tery, exclaiming:  "A  little  more  grape,  Captain  Bragg."  I 
asked  Bragg  whether  this  was  a  true  story.  He  laughed,  re- 
marking: "Taylor  was  in  Saltillo,  and  came  very  late  in  the 
afternoon  on  the  field.  I  never  saw  him  during  the  whole 
battle." 

We  had  a  most  glorious  time.  Shields  was  delighted, 
and  indeed  he  had  reason  to  be. 

KINKEL  AND  SCHURZ 

In  October  Gottfried  Kinkel  arrived  in  New  York.  Pro- 
fessor of  history  and  literature  at  Bonn,  he  had,  in  1849, 
taken  part  in  the  rising  of  the  people  near  Elberfeld  in  favor 
of  the  Constitution  framed  by  the  Frankfort  Parliament ;  had 
then  gone  to  Baden,  joining  the  Liberal  army ;  had  been  made 
prisoner  after  having  been  wounded  by  the  Prussians;  and 
had  been  placed  before  a  court-martial,  which  sentenced  him 


574  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

to  imprisonment  for  life,  which  sentence  the  King  of  Prussia, 
more  cruel  than  the  court-martial,  changed  into  life-long  con- 
finement in  the  penitentiary  at  hard  labor.  While  undergoing 
this  infamous  punishment,  he  was,  at  the  instigation  of  the 
government,  indicted  in  Rhenish  Prussia  for  his  early  offense 
in  that  province  on  a  charge  of  high  treason.  He  was  taken 
to  Cologne  before  the  assizes.  He  defended  himself  in  a 
speech  forever  memorable.  He  was  aware  that  great  efforts 
were  being  made  by  most  prominent  men  all  over  Germany, 
Alexander  Von  Humboldt  included,  who  had  great  influence 
with  the  King,  to  procure  his  pardon.  Nevertheless,  in  his 
speech  at  Cologne  he  boldly  vindicated  his  course  and  made 
the  government  the  culprit.  The  president  could  not  suppress 
the  enthusiasm  his  speech  produced.  While  hundreds  were 
weeping,  as  many  more  broke  out  from  time  to  time  in  loud 
applause.  When  taken  into  the  court-hall  manacled,  and  in 
leaving  it,  he  received  the  ovations  of  the  excited  multitude. 
Taken  back  to  the  penitentiary  at  Spandau,  near  Berlin,  he 
was  soon  afterwards  liberated  by  Carl  Schurz. 

Schurz,  while  a  student  at  Bonn  had  heard  Kinkel's  lec- 
tures, and  had  become  very  much  attached  to  him.  After 
his  own  escape  from  the  fortress  of  Rastatt,  he  resolved  at 
every  risk  to  rescue  his  noble  friend.  Of  course,  there  were 
others,  who  furnished  the  pecuniary  means  necessary  for  such 
an  undertaking.  Schurz  in  disguise,  —  and  it  must  have  been 
a  very  ingenious  one,  for  his  peculiar  personality  is  such  that 
it  could  not  be  duplicated  among  a  million  of  men,  —  found  his 
way  to  Berlin.  By  large  bribes  some  subordinates  in  the 
prison  were  induced  to  furnish  Kinkel  with  files  and  other 
instruments  and  a  rope,  and  then  got  themselves  discharged 
and  fled.  Kinkel  succeeded  in  making  an  opening  in  the  iron 
bars  before  a  window  in  the  cell,  and  let  himself  down  one 
dark,  stormy  night  when  the  sentinels  had  taken  shelter  in 
their  sentry-boxes.  Once  below,  there  was  Schurz  and  another 
friend,  who  put  him  in  a  carriage,  with  very  fleet  horses, 
passed  the  Prussian  frontier,  traversed  Mecklenburg,  found 


THE  YEAR  1851  575 

a  little  schooner  ready  at  Rostock,  and  reached  England  in 
safety.  It  was  so  bold  an  undertaking  that  it  was  supposed 
at  first  that  the  government  had  connived  at  it.  But  that  was 
not  so.  The  government  could  have  pardoned  Kinkel  at  any 
moment,  and  would  have  earned  thus  great  credit  throughout 
the  whole  country. 

Kinkel  had  made  London  his  residence,  and  now  came  to 
this  country  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money  by  a  popular 
loan  to  start  a  new  revolution  in  Germany.  This  plan  was 
originated  by  Mazzini,  who  was  believed  to  have  raised  con- 
siderable funds  by  issuing  bonds  for  small  amounts,  the  bonds 
being  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Italian  Revolutionary  Com- 
mittee in  London,  to  be  used  by  them  to  forward  the  revolu- 
tion in  Italy.  These  bonds  were  payable  when  the  independ- 
ence of  Italy  should  be  obtained.  For  the  proper  use  of  the 
money  some  responsible  men  in  London  were  guarantors. 
Kossuth,  who  had  finally  reached  England,  —  I  believe,  in 
October,  —  adopted  this  scheme  on  a  larger  scale.  He,  how- 
ever, signed  these  bonds  as  the  legal  Governor  of  Hungary,  to 
which  place  he  had  been  elected  by  the  Hungarian  Diet, 
treating  the  Emperor  of  Austria  as  an  usurper.  Kinkel  had 
come  to  the  United  States  to  establish  a  branch  Revolutionary 
Committee  to  assist  in  carrying  out  the  loan  scheme.  It  might 
have  been  considered  a  visionary  idea;  but  still  Kinkel  made 
it  appear  plausible  by  pointing  to  the  condition  of  France, 
which  had  become  highly  disturbed. 

Louis  Napoleon,  the  Prince-President,  was  in  open  con- 
flict with  the  Legislative  Chamber.  His  term  of  office  was  to 
expire  in  1852,  and  by  the  Constitution,  which  he  had  sworn  to 
observe,  he  could  not  be  elected  his  own  successor.  Yet  he 
and  his  party  were  determined  to  retain  the  office.  An  at- 
tempt on  his  part  to  have  the  Constitution  so  amended  as  to 
make  him  eligible,  was  indignantly  rejected  by  the  Chamber. 
In  the  meantime,  he  had  used  all  his  patronage  for  his  per- 
sonal benefit,  had  corrupted  many  officers,  and  had  flattered 
and  cajoled  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army.  It  was  evident  that 


576  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

he  intended  to  keep  himself  by  force  in  the  Presidential  chair. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Legislature  or  a  majority  of  them 
sought  to  devise  a  means  to  impeach  him.  From  one  side  or 
the  other,  in  the  fall  of  1851,  a  coup  d'etat  was  almost  hourly 
expected.  The  exiles  in  London,  Ledru  Rollin,  Mazzini,  Louis 
Blanc,  Kinkel,  and  ex-members  of  the  German  Parliament 
counted  upon  the  success  of  the  Republicans  hi  the  imminent 
civil  war  which  would  follow  in  France,  which  war  they  hoped 
would  throw  Italy  and  Germany  into  a  new  revolution.  It 
may  be  remarked  here  that  the  opinion  was  pretty  general 
all  over  Europe  that  in  1852  another  great  revolution  would 
take  place.  The  relations  between  Austria  and  Turkey,  and 
also  with  England,  were  very  strained ;  as  were  also  those  be- 
tween Sardinia  and  Austria.  Of  Louis  Napoleon  it  was  ex- 
pected that  he  would  bring  on  a  war  to  maintain  himself  in 
his  position. 

Kinkel  met  with  a  great  ovation  on  his  arrival  in  New 
York,  was  conducted  by  a  large  procession  of  German  and 
other  societies  to  his  hotel,  and  received  by  the  mayor  and 
the  city  council  at  the  city  hall.  In  Philadelphia  and  Balti- 
more he  was  received  in  the  same  way.  At  Washington  he 
was  introduced  to  the  President,  serenaded,  and  had  every 
attention  shown  him  by  members  of  Congress.  Returning 
from  New  York  he  went  west  to  Albany,  Buffalo,  Chicago, 
and  Davenport,  and  finally  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  where  he  was 
enthusiastically  welcomed.  Late  in  the  evening  of  the  17th 
of  December,  Kinkel  arrived  in  Belleville.  In  West  Belleville 
a  committee  of  reception  awaited  him,  as  did  also  Captain 
Eimer's  Rifle  Company  and  a  band  of  music.  He  declined 
entering  the  carriage  ready  for  him,  but  marched  at  the  head 
of  the  soldiers  to  the  Belleville  House.  He  was  serenaded  late 
in  the  evening  and  made  a  speech  from  the  balcony. 

In  the  morning  Mr.  Kinkel  called  at  my  home.  We  had 
read  and  heard  a  great  deal  about  his  winning  presence,  and 
our  expectations  in  that  respect  were  high.  But  he  surpassed 
them.  Unusually  tall,  he  was  stout  in  proportion,  and  his 


THE  YEAR  1851  577 

carriage  was  erect  and  graceful.  A  full  beard  encircled  his 
oval  face,  whose  features  were  quite  regular.  There  was 
nothing  martial  about  him.  His  high  forehead  showed  the 
scholar  and  thinker.  Take  it  all  in  all,  he  was  one  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  manly  beauty  I  have  ever  seen. 

There  was  of  course  no  lack  of  subjects  to  speak  upon. 
He  had  been  cordially  received  by  Shields  and  Douglas  in 
Washington,  and  had  met  a  good  many  of  my  friends  in 
Philadelphia,  New  York,  Davenport  and  St.  Louis.  Familiar 
as  we  were  with  late  events  in  Europe,  he  found  no  difficulty 
in  at  once  explaining  his  plans.  His  conversation  was  spark- 
ling and  highly  interesting.  Of  course  we  all  listened.  He 
complimented  Sophie  very  much  on  the  fact  that  our  children 
spoke  German  so  purely.  He  had  been  informed,  he  said, 
that  most  children  born  in  American  of  German  parents 
either  could  not  speak  that  language  at  all  or  murdered  it 
badly.  An  hour  or  two  flew  by  before  we  knew  it.  After 
dinner  the  meeting  called  for  him  took  place  at  the  court- 
house, which  was  packed  with  people,  among  whom  were  a 
great  many  ladies,  —  a  rare  thing  at  that  time,  when  ladies 
rarely  attended  political  or  other  public  meetings,  except 
lectures.  Mr.  Abend,  the  mayor,  addressed  Kinkel  first,  wel- 
coming him  on  the  part  of  the  city.  Kinkel  was  really  one 
of  the  most  eloquent  speakers  I  ever  heard.  His  voice  was 
strong  and  sonorous.  Perhaps  there  was  a  little  too  much 
pathos  in  his  address,  and  too  much  rhetoric.  But  he  had  been 
for  years  a  professor  of  ancient  and  modern  literature,  was  a 
poet  of  great  merit,  an  enthusiast  by  nature,  and  consequently 
more  apt  to  move  the  feelings  of  his  hearers  than  to  convince 
their  reason.  Frederick  Hecker  followed  Kinkel  in  a  most 
soul-stirring  speech,  which  raised  the  enthusiasm  of  the  meet- 
ing to  the  highest  pitch. 

KOSSUTH'S  ORATORY 

The  greatness  of  Kossuth's  oratory  lay  in  his  rare  com- 
bination of  being  able  to  work  upon  the  heart  and  mind  at 


578  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

the  same  time,  in  the  fact  that  he  was  always  controlling  his 
own  emotion  and  was  never  passionate.  His  words  coursed 
from  his  mouth  like  a  fast  flowing  but  placid  river,  in  a  most 
melodious  tone.  While  an  idealist  and  an  enthusiast,  he 
enunciated  large  statesmanlike  views,  illustrated  by  historical 
parallels.  There  was  an  irresistible  fascination  about  the  man, 
who,  modest  and  unpretending  in  appearance,  had  guided  and 
controlled  by  mere  intellect  a  great  and  gallant  nation. 

Kossuth  arrived  in  this  country  early  in  December,  was 
received  in  New  York  with  an  unbounded  spontaneous  en- 
thusiasm, even  exceeding  the  ovation  which  greeted  him  on 
his  arrival  in  England.  By  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress 
he  was  invited  to  visit  Washington  even  before  he  had  arrived. 
Upon  his  landing  in  New  York,  Senator  Foote  of  Mississippi 
had  introduced  a  resolution  that  he  should  be  formally  re- 
ceived by  the  Senate.  But  there  was  an  undercurrent  in  op- 
position to  any  demonstration  in  favor  of  Kossuth  already 
perceptible.  The  Ultramontane  (Catholic)  newspapers  de- 
nounced him  as  a  rebel,  as  a  missionary  of  Satan.  But  even 
many  very  conservative  politicians  thought  that  any  official 
recognition  of  Kossuth  might  give  offense  to  Russia  and  Aus- 
tria. Foote,  without  argument,  withdrew  his  resolution,  but 
Shields  at  once  renewed  it,  and  very  briefly,  but  very  warmly 
recommended  its  passage.  Several  Senators  spoke  against  it, 
when  Shields  in  an  excellent  speech  and  with  great  animation 
urged  its  passage.  Douglas  also  spoke  in  favor  of  it,  though 
not  with  the  same  feeling  as  Shields.  The  resolution  passed. 

Shields  was  appointed  one  of  the  committee  to  introduce 
Kossuth  to  the  Senate.  As  early  as  the  20th  of  December, 
Shields  wrote  me: 

"Kossuth  is  not  a  welcome  guest  to  the  conservative 
Americans.  They  fear  him.  He  alarms  their  conservatism." 

In  a  very  interesting  letter  of  the  2nd  of  January,  1852, 
Shields  writes  about  Kossuth: 

"I  have  worked,  as  you  know,  for  the  cause  of  Kossuth, 
and  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  delighting  some,  while  others 
have  cursed  me  as  a  damned  foreigner  who  wished  to  embroil 


THE  YEAR  1851  579 

this  country  in  war  for  the  benefit  of  Europe.  Now  as  to 
Kossuth,  he  is  great  because  he  has  a  powerful  head  and  the 
heart  of  a  child.  That  man  will  do  wonders,  not  on  the 
Democracy,  (he  is  too  delicate,  too  refined,  and  too  scrupulous 
for  that,)  but  upon  the  enlightened  liberal  mind  of  the 
world.  He  is  about  five  feet  nine  inches  high,  very  slight  and 
slender,  not  of  the  American  slenderness,  but  of  the  lithe  Euro- 
pean. He  has  dark  eyes,  thoughtful  and  tender,  resolute, 
but  not  energetic.  His  head  is  compact,  his  forehead  large, 
and  his  visage  thin,  tapering  down  to  a  pointed  chin,  —  in 
this  respect  Asiatic.  He  is  exceedingly  simple  and  graceful 
in  his  manners  and  actions,  —  the  best  model  I  think  I  have 
ever  seen.  His  whole  appearance  is  one  to  win  love  and  con- 
fidence. His  style  of  oratory  is  entirely  different  from  ours. 
When  you  listen  to  him,  you  can  scarcely  persuade  yourself 
that  a  man  is  making  a  speech,  but  you  feel  that  a  man  is 
addressing  you,  especially  in  the  earnest  tone  and  sincere  con- 
viction and  elegant  and  graceful  conversation.  He  speaks 
with  a  foreign  accent,  but  it  is  a  sweet  accent  and  by  no  means 
disagreeable,  and  his  thoughts  are  the  result  of  study,  zeal  and 
conviction.  In  one  respect  he  differs  from  all  the  great  men 
I  have  met.  He  is  a  child,  with  the  fresh  feelings,  the  fresh 
hopes  and  the  confidence  of  a  child,  and  yet  he  is  a  man  of  the 
most  practical  policy.  His  sole  effort  is  now  to  throw  the 
weight  of  England  and  the  United  States  with  the  Liberal 
party  of  Europe.  You  know  how  he  has  been  traduced  and 
calumniated,  and  here  in  this  country  he  has  learned  that  a 
republic  does  not  change  the  nature  of  man.  But  he  is  never 
disconcerted.  He  keeps  eye  and  soul  on  a  great  object,  and 
this  elevates  him  above  surrounding  circumstances.  The 
administration  has  treated  him  shabbily.  You  ought  to  have 
seen  Fillmore  when  he  was  received,  as  rigid  as  a  midshipman 
on  a  quarter-deck.  He  got  himself  into  position  and  tried  to 
look  dignified,  but  the  dignity  of  intellect  and  refinement  was 
not  there.  You  have  read  his  (Fillmore 's)  reply;  it  was  worse 
spoken  than  it  read.  Kossuth  will  be  received  in  the  Senate 
on  Monday,  and  I  have  to  introduce  him.  At  the  banquet 
which  has  been  got  up  for  him  he  will  not  make  a  political 
speech.  This  is  wise  and  prudent. 

"Clark  of  Rhode  Island  has  brought  in  a  non-interven- 
tion resolution,  we  suppose  from  the  petty  administration. 
I  have  seen  Cass  and  we  mean  to  amend  it  in  such  a  way  as 
to  indicate  a  determination  to  throw  our  weight  with  the 


580 

great  Liberal  party  of  the  world,  and  circumstances  have 
made  me  the  chief  actor.  I  hope  and  pray  that  I  may  con- 
tinue to  act  wisely." 

As  regards  Kossuth's  oratory,  Shields  might  have  added: 
The  most  astonishing  element  in  his  speaking  is  his  versa- 
tility. In  vindicating  the  cause  of  his  country  and  the  strict 
legality  of  its  resistance  to  Austrian  usurpation,  he  of  course 
had  to  state  historical  facts  in  several  of  his  greatest  speeches. 
But  even  those  statements  were  on  each  occasion  given  in  a 
different  language.  As  he  spoke  to  city  authorities,  to  sere- 
naders,  to  deputations  of  all  kinds  of  societies  and  nation- 
alities, to  legislative  bodies,  to  large  and  immense  crowds,  his 
words  were  always  perfectly  adapted  to  the  audience  he 
addressed.  While  of  course  he  expressed  his  gratitude  as  to 
the  manner  of  his  reception,  he  never  indulged  in  flattery,  and 
while  denouncing  the  tyranny  of  despotic  governments,  he 
did  not  fail  to  lay  some  blame  on  the  people  for  their  selfish- 
ness, indifference  and  lack  of  courage. 

One  must  read  the  principal  papers  of  the  Union  at  that 
time  to  understand  the  tremendous  excitement  produced  by 
the  triumphal  march  of  Kossuth  through  the  country.  There 
was  not  a  city  or  a  town  where  meetings  were  not  held, 
expressing  sympathy  with  the  noble  Hungarian  and  with  the 
cause  of  liberty  in  the  world,  and  the  utmost  indignation 
with  the  monarchs  of  Europe.  And  not  only  that,  the  Legis- 
latures of  many  States  passed  resolutions  of  the  same  charac- 
ter as  those  passed  in  the  popular  meetings.  Both  parties 
did  their  best  to  show  the  greatest  zeal  in  those  demonstra- 
tions. 

When  Lafayette  revisited  this  country  in  1824,  he 
received  ovations  on  the  grandest  scale,  but  it  was  attested 
by  those  who  had  witnessed  them,  that  they  were  not  to  be 
compared  at  all  with  those  tendered  to  Louis  Kossuth. 

Returning  to  Kinkel's  visit  to  Belleville,  he  made  by  his 
masterly  speech  a  deep  impression.  At  a  subsequent  meeting 
of  citizens  a  financial  committee  was  appointed  to  raise  money 


THE  YEAR  1851  581 

for  the  German  Revolutionary  Committee  at  London.  By 
liberal  donations,  but  particularly  by  the  laudable  efforts  of 
our  Belleville  ladies,  in  arranging  receptions,  bazaars  and 
balls,  we  were  enabled  to  send  to  Oscar  Reichenbach,  treas- 
urer of  the  National  Loan  Office  at  London,  a  few  weeks  after 
the  meeting,  the  sum  of  £145  18s.  9d.,  or  about  $600.00. 
And  I  must  here  remark  that  American  citizens  took  as  much 
interest  in  this  commotion  and  in  the  contributions  as  the 
Germans  did. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  Sophie  threw  her  whole  soul 
into  the  matter  and  did  her  best  to  make  it  a  success. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

Named  for  Lieutenant-Governor  (1852) 

On  the  20th  of  March,  1852,  Kossuth  arrived  at  St.  Louis. 
He  was  taken  in  the  midst  of  an  immense  procession  to  the 
Planters '  House,  and  made  a  brief  address  of  thanks  from  the 
balcony  to  a  sea  of  people.  The  next  day  had  been  appointed 
for  him  to  address  the  people  of  St.  Louis  at  the  Lucas  Com- 
mons ;  but  storm  and  rain  prevented  it.  The  next  day,  though 
it  was  still  raining  some  and  the  wind  was  blowing,  Kossuth 
spoke,  and  held  the  people  entranced  by  his  eloquence  for 
nearly  two  hours.  The  Jesuit  papers  in  St.  Louis  and  also 
the  principal  Whig  organ,  the  "Republican,"  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Catholic  clergy,  had  for  weeks  covered  him  with 
all  kinds  of  abuse,  slander  and  calumny,  and  had  been  par- 
ticularly anxious  to  irritate  the  Irish  against  him.  Kossuth 
boldly  exposed  these  infamous  attacks,  denounced  the  Jesuits 
as  the  destructive  agents  of  political  and  religious  freedom 
all  over  the  world,  as  being  the  missionaries  of  Austria  and 
Rome,  and  as  silently  undermining  the  liberties  of  this  coun- 
try. It  was  a  magnificent  effort. 

At  his  own  suggestion  a  German  meeting  was  held  at 
Wyman's  Hall  on  the  Saturday  following.  There  was  an 
immense  crowd,  and  many  thousands  could  not  find  admis- 
sion. He  spoke  German  fluently  and  beautifully.  It  was 
evident  that  he  was  familiar  not  only  with  German  litera- 
ture, but  also  with  the  character  of  the  German  people.  He 
freely  admitted  that  it  was  at  the  German  universities  that 
he  was  taught  to  take  broader  and  deeper  views  of  humanity 
and  its  destiny.  I  found  that  Shields 's  judgment  of  Kos- 
suth's  style  of  oratory  was  strikingly  correct. 


NAMED  FOR  LIEUTENANT-GOVEENOR        583 

KOSSUTH  IN   ST.   LOUIS 

In  the  evening,  my  St.  Louis  friend,  Thomas  Reynolds, 
a  member  of  the  reception  committee,  a  prominent  lawyer  and 
politician,  who  had  studied  law  at  German  universities  and 
who  had  been,  under  Folk's  administration,  secretary  of  the 
United  States  Legation  at  Madrid,  took  me  to  see  Kossuth. 
Introducing  me  by  anticipation,  —  for  I  had  then  not  even 
been  nominated  for  the  office,  —  as  the  future  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Illinois,  he  remarked  that  I  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  General  Shields.  Owing  probably  to  this  last  rec- 
ommendation, Kossuth  at  once  received  me  very  warmly. 
Naturally  the  conversation  turned  first  on  his  stay  at  Wash- 
ington, on  the  principal  men  he  had  become  acquainted  with, 
such  as  the  President  and  members  of  his  Cabinet,  General 
Cass,  Shields,  Douglas,  and  Seward,  and  then  on  American 
politics  generally.  His  judgment  of  men  and  affairs  was  of 
rare  justice,  the  result  of  close  observation  and  deep  reflection 
since  his  arrival. 

We  had  been  talking  in  English,  of  which  he  was  less  a 
master  in  conversation  than  in  public  speaking,  (my  own 
experience,)  and  as  Reynolds  also  understood  German,  we 
soon  fell  to  speaking  German,  and  had  a  most  interesting  time 
in  listening  to  his  views  on  European  affairs  and  on  the  coup 
d'etat  in  Prance,  which  we  then  all  believed  to  be  the  neces- 
sary prelude  to  a  general  revolution  in  Europe.  In  the  con- 
versation he  expressed  a  wish  to  see  Hecker.  As  it  was  get- 
ting late,  we  rose.  But  he  said  he  would  like  us  to  see  his 
wife.  He  took  us  to  an  adjoining  room,  where  we  found  Mrs. 
Kossuth,  Mrs.  Pulsky  and  her  husband,  Francis  Pulsky,  Kos- 
suth's  brother-in-law.  Pulsky  had  represented  Hungary  dur- 
ing the  revolution  at  London,  and  was  now  acting  as  Kossuth 's 
secretary.  He  was  a  very  able  man  himself.  The  room  was 
so  badly  lighted,  however,  that  I  could  not  give  a  description 
of  how  the  company  looked.  Pulsky  had  been  in  Kossuth 's 
room,  when  we  first  entered.  He  was  smaller  than  Kossuth, 
but  elegantly  built,  and  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  had  a  full  beard. 


584 

Our  talk  with  the  ladies  in  French  was  brief  and  common- 
place. I  may  add  here,  of  all  Hungarians,  and  I  have  known 
many,  Kossuth  had  far  the  sweetest  voice.  Of  one  thing  I 
am  certain,  that  no  one  could  leave  Kossuth  without  being 
conscious  that  he  had  been  in  the  presence  of  a  great  man. 

Next  day  Sophie  came  over  with  some  Belleville  ladies. 
She  met  Mrs.  Trumbull  and  half  a  dozen  ladies  from  Spring- 
field, all  very  anxious  to  see  Kossuth.  I  wrote  a  note  to  Mr. 
Pulsky,  who  introduced  them  to  Mrs.  Kossuth  and  Mrs. 
Pulsky,  who  in  their  turn  introduced  them  to  Kossuth;  they 
returned  perfectly  delighted,  and  I  received  enthusiastic 
thanks  for  the  little  trouble  I  had  taken  to  gratify  their  wish. 

On  my  return  home,  I  wrote  at  once  to  Hecker  that  Kos- 
suth had  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  see  him.  Hecker 
replied  that,  inasmuch  as  I  had  not  been  directly  authorized 
by  Kossuth  to  invite  him,  and  as  Kossuth  had  authorized  no 
one  else  to  do  so,  he  was  too  proud  to  obtrude  himself;  that 
I  knew  very  well,  that  he  (Hecker),  long  before  Kossuth  had 
come  to  our  shores,  admired  him,  had  pronounced  him  the 
only  great  character  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  still 
admired  him,  but  that  nevertheless  his  pride  and  that  of  the 
German  people  would  forbid  him  calling  on  Kossuth  until  he 
was  asked.  I  thought  at  the  time  that  if  Hecker  had  called 
upon  Kossuth,  telling  him  that  he  had  come  in  compliance 
with  his  wish  to  see  him,  neither  Kossuth  nor  anybody  else 
would  have  taken  his  visit  as  an  obtrusion. 

Early  in  1852,  my  friend  Thilenius,  after  lingering  for 
months,  died  of  consumption,  leaving  his  wife  Emma,  who 
had  most  faithfully  nursed  him  through  his  dreadful  disease, 
to  her  own  resources.  She  was  at  once  received  into  our 
house,  and  remained  with  us  until  she  married,  in  1853,  Will- 
iam Kribben,  of  St.  Louis,  a  brother  of  Hannchen,  Theodore's 
wife. 

Pauline,  whose  health  had  been  feeble  for  years,  was  now 
taken  with  a  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  which  again  made  it 
extremely  doubtful  whether  she  would  ever  be  able  to  join  us. 


NAMED  FOR  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR        585 

And  here  I  may  mention  another  proof  of  the  truth  that  true 
friendship  still  exists  for  years.  Doctor  Henry  Hoffmann,  my 
most  intimate  friend  at  college,  had  attended  Pauline  many 
times  when  she  was  seriously  ill,  —  often  several  times  in  a 
day,  and  also  sometimes  at  night,  —  and  had  steadily  refused 
any  remuneration.  "I  do  not  visit  you  as  a  physician,"  he 
would  say,  "I  call  as  your  friend  and  Gustav's."  At  the 
same  time,  he  had  a  large  practice  and  was  chief  physician 
of  the  great  insane  asylum  of  the  city. 

The  political  news  was  equally  distressing.  Napoleon's 
coup  d'etat  had  given  the  coup  de  grace  to  all  Liberal  aspira- 
tions in  Europe.  Political  prosecutions  and  condemnations 
were  the  order  of  the  day.  All  Liberal  constitutions  and  laws, 
obtained  in  1848,  were  either  repealed  or  so  modified  as  to 
leave  hardly  a  shadow  of  political  rights  to  the  people. 


For  reasons  already  assigned,  I  had  declined  becoming  a 
candidate  for  Governor.  I  was  now  urged  by  friends  all 
over  the  State,  particularly  by  the  candidates  for  Governor 
in  the  north  (Matteson,  Gregg  and  Dement)  to  become  a 
candidate  for  the  place  of  Lieutenant-Governor.  Now  as  the 
Legislature  under  the  new  Constitution  was  never  in  session 
more  than  six  weeks,  and  that  just  at  the  time  when  the  Su- 
preme Court  in  Springfield  also  was  sitting,  when  I  would 
be  away  from  home  much  of  the  time  anyway,  the  objection 
of  having  to  live  away  from  my  family  was  obviated.  It  was 
an  honorable  position ;  for,  since  the  Lieutenant-Governor  was 
the  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate,  he  could,  if  able,  distinguish 
himself,  without  incurring  much  responsibility.  When  my 
name  had  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  office,  nearly 
all  the  Democratic  papers  favored  my  candidacy ;  and  I  finally 
consented  to  run,  if  nominated. 

The  State  Convention  met  on  the  19th  of  April,  1852. 
It  was  very  largely  attended.  Though  a  delegate,  I  only  went 
to  the  Convention  while  it  was  organizing.  I  should  have 


586  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

been  there  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  balloting  began,  to 
watch  my  interests;  but,  on  going  to  dinner,  a  friend  had 
placed  in  my  hands  a  book  which  he  said  was  the  most  inter- 
esting he  had  ever  read.  Lying  down  in  my  room  after  din- 
ner, 1  commenced  reading  it.  It  was  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 
I  soon  became  so  taken  with  it  that  I  read  and  read  until  near 
dark,  forgetting  the  convention  and  my  candidacy.  At  last 
I  was  roused  by  a  member  of  the  Convention  announcing  that 
Matteson  had  been  nominated  for  Governor  on  the  eleventh 
ballot.  A  few  minutes  afterwards  a  crowd  rushed  into  the 
room  congratulating  me  on  my  nomination  on  the  third  ballot. 
The  Convention,  after  appointing  Presidential  electors  and 
delegates  to  the  National  Presidential  Convention,  recommend- 
ed Senator  Douglas  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States. 

A  special  Legislature  had  been  called  by  Governor  French 
for  June.  The  Belleville  people  made  another  effort  to  get 
the  charter  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Vincennes  road  so  amended 
as  to  make  Belleville  a  point  on  it.  I  was  one  of  the  committee 
to  get  the  amendment  passed.  But  we  failed,  because  some 
Belleville  men,  under  the  lead  of  Don  Morrison,  who  was  in 
the  State  Senate,  worked  against  us,  —  they  having  specu- 
lated largely  in  lands  where  the  road  would  not  pass  if  it  was 
diverted  to  Belleville.  To  reconcile  us,  a  bill  was  passed, 
chartering  a  railroad  from  Belleville  to  Illinoistown  opposite 
St.  Louis  (which  we  could  have  had  at  any  time  for  the  mere 
asking).  In  that  bill  I  inserted  a  clause  allowing  this  road 
to  extend  to  and  unite  with  any  other  roads  in  the  State. 
This  section,  which  escaped  the  keen  eyes  of  those  who  had 
always  been  opposed  to  making  terminal  roads  outside  of  the 
State,  at  once  put  an  end  to  the  then  narrow  State  policy. 
Our  company  at  once  built,  by  way  of  an  extension,  a  road 
from  Illinoistown  to  Alton,  by  which  the  Terre  Haute  and 
Alton  Railroad  could  come  directly  into  St.  Louis,  as  could 
also  the  Chicago  and  Alton,  which  was  then  building.  Six 
lines  destroyed  this  miserable  policy,  which  for  years  had 


NAMED  FOR  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR        587 

crippled  the  commerce  from  the  East  and  North  with  St. 
Louis,  the  capital  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  merely  in  order 
to  build  up  Alton,  which  even  now  is  a  smaller  place  than 
Belleville. 

Of  course  the  State  policy  party  did  not  give  up  the 
game.  They  contested  our  right  to  build  a  road  by  way  of 
extension,  and  carried  the  case  through  the  courts.  But  the 
Supreme  Court  finally  decided  in  our  favor,  Breese  being 
counsel  for  the  opponents  and  I  for  the  Belleville  road. 

In  July  we  lost,  after  a  short  sickness,  our  lovely  Fritz- 
chen,  who  had  been  the  very  picture  of  health,  but  caught  the 
measles,  which  unfortunately  did  not  break  out  normally.  An 
inflammation  of  the  brain  ensued  with  fatal  results.  It  was 
a  terrible  blow  to  Sophie  and  me.  It  almost  unnerved  me.  I 
felt  inclined  at  once  to  give  up  my  candidacy.  But  my  friends 
would  not  hear  of  this.  I  owed  it  to  the  party,  they  said,  to 
keep  in  the  field;  for  at  that  time  the  campaign  had  already 
waxed  very  warm.  General  Franklin  Pierce  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  William  P.  King  of  Alabama  had  been  nominated 
for  President  and  Vice-President  in  June  by  the  Democrats, 
and  General  Scott  and  Graham  of  North  Carolina  by  the 
Whigs.  And  on  the  7th  of  July  the  Whig  Convention  of  Illi- 
nois had  nominated  Edwin  B.  Webb  and  Don  Morrison  for 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor. 

DON    MORRISON 

The  nomination  of  Col.  Don  Morrison  was  a  very  ju- 
dicious one  from  a  Whig  standpoint.  He  had  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature,  both  of  the  House  and  the  Senate,  hav- 
ing been  elected  in  a  strong  Democratic  county.  For  Senate, 
he  had  only  two  years  before  beaten  Governor  Reynolds  by 
a  considerable  majority.  This  was  proof  of  his  popularity  at 
home,  or,  at  least,  of  his  superior  management  and  election- 
eering powers.  Of  his  fluency  of  speech  and  handsome  per- 
sonal appearance  I  have  already  spoken.  Besides,  by  shrewd 
speculations  in  soldiers'  warrants  and  in  land,  he  had  what 
was  considered  at  that  time  a  large  fortune.  His  vote  in  the 


588 

Legislature  had  been  at  the  service  of  bank  presidents  and 
railroad  magnates,  while  I  had  strongly  opposed  the  Free 
Banking  Law,  and  had  just  had  a  big  fight  with  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Railroad.  I  was  against  a  protective  tariff,  and 
he  in  favor  of  it ;  thereby  gaming  the  favor  of  the  manufac- 
turers, who  were  already  a  power  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
State. 

He  was  not  only  a  native  of  the  United  States,  but  a 
native  of  Illinois  at  a  time  when  but  few  of  our  public  men 
were  Illinoisans  by  birth.  Though  the  Democratic  party  as 
a  whole  were  pledged  against  Native  Americanism,  still  a 
good  many  of  its  members  disliked  to  vote  for  foreign-born 
citizens  for  high  offices.  It  might  have  been  said,  that  this 
disadvantage  would  have  been  compensated  by  the  German 
vote,  since  many  Whig  Germans  would  probably  vote  for  their 
countryman.  But  that  was  a  mistake;  for  in  the  first  place 
there  were  very  few  German  Whigs  anyway,  and  furthermore 
the  German  voting  population  was  not  nearly  as  large  as  was 
generally  supposed.  The  great  stream  of  German  immigra- 
tion into  Illinois  had  come  into  the  State  after  1848,  and, 
while  the  men  amongst  them  swelled  the  public  meetings  and 
torch-light  processions,  still,  not  being  yet  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  they  had  no  right  to  vote  under  the  new  Con- 
stitution. 

I  was  never  very  popular  amongst  the  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple. While  eminently  social  among  my  friends  I  felt  uncom- 
fortable among  promiscuous  crowds.  I  was  always  reported 
by  my  political  opponents  as  being  proud  and  aristocratic. 
That  was  altogether  untrue.  I  was  too  proud,  however,  to 
court  popularity;  while  my  very  civility  towards  everybody, 
and  particularly  to  those  who  moved  in  an  inferior  sphere, 
was  misunderstood  as  pride.  It  is  probable  that  I  may  have 
had  other  traits  in  my  character  of  which  I  was  not  conscious, 
which  made  me  less  popular  than  I  might  otherwise  have  been. 
An  anecdote  which  happened  not  long  before  we  were  oppos- 
ing candidates,  will  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  Morrison 
gained  his  popularity. 


NAMED  FOR  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR        589 

During  court-time  at  Carlyle,  Judge  Breese,  Morrison, 
Mr.  Dennis  and  myself  were  playing  a  game  of  whist  at  the 
hotel,  the  door  of  our  room  being  open,  when  some  backwoods 
farmer,  somewhat  tipsy,  entered  the  room  and  stood  around 
the  table,  looking  at  the  game.  Morrison  was  smoking  a  cigar 
nearly  to  the  stump  and  I  was  smoking  a  short  pipe  with  a 
cane  stem  and  an  earthen  bowl.  All  at  once  the  looker-on  ad- 
dressed me :  "  Judge,  let  me  have  a  few  puffs  from  your  pipe ! ' ' 
"My  good  friend,"  I  replied,  "I  would  do  most  anything  in 
reason  for  you,  but  that  I  cannot  do."  "Look  at  the  aristo- 
crat," Don  exclaimed  in  his  usual  loud  voice,  "He  won't  let 
you  have  his  pipe.  Here,  my  good  fellow,  take  my  cigar  and 
smoke  it  out. ' '  It  was  a  mere  miserable  stump ;  but  the  fellow, 
instead  of  taking  it  as  an  insult,  was  highly  pleased,  and  put 
the  stump  into  his  mouth  with  thanks.  I  am  pretty  sure  that 
this  poor  fellow,  although  judging  from  his  butternut  trous- 
ers and  his  slouch  hat  he  was  probably  a  Democrat,  voted  at 
the  election  for  Morrison  and  not  for  me. 

DEATH  OP  CLAY 

In  June  Henry  Clay  died,  following  the  great  statesman 
Calhoun  in  less  than  two  years.  The  regret  at  his  loss  was 
general  and  sincere.  Indeed,  I  know  of  no  man  who  repre- 
sented the  American  character  in  its  best  features  as  well  as 
in  its  foibles  more  truly  than  Henry  Clay.  If  Webster  can 
be  said  to  have  loved  his  country,  it  was  love  springing  from 
reason ;  Clay  loved  it  from  his  heart.  It  was  said  by  Boerne 
that  a  Frenchman  loves  liberty  as  he  does  his  mistress,  an 
Englishman  as  he  does  his  life,  and  a  German  as  he  does  his 
grandmother.  Clay  was  the  Frenchman,  Webster  the  Eng- 
lishman. 

We  had  a  large  meeting  at  Belleville  to  express  our  sor- 
row at  Clay's  death.  I  had  to  draw  up  resolutions  and  to 
support  them  in  a  speech.  Although  politically  opposed  to 
the  great  statesman,  my  eulogy  was  not  conventional,  but  ex- 
pressive of  my  true  feelings. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

Running  for  Lieutenant-Governor  (1852) 

Having  made  numerous  speeches  in  St.  Glair  and  adjoin- 
ing counties,  the  call  to  come  north  was  so  loud  that  a  regu- 
lar campaign  was  laid  out.  Congress  had  adjourned,  and 
Douglas  and  Shields  and  other  Democratic  members  of  Con- 
gress were  now  at  leisure  to  take  part  in  the  fight.  Douglas 
at  the  National  Democratic  Convention  had  received  a  very 
handsome  vote  for  President.  He  now  had  to  work  for  his 
reelection  to  the  Senate,  his  term  expiring  in  March,  1853. 

The  first  great  rally  was  at  Quincy,  late  in  September. 
Douglas,  Shields  and  Richardson  addressed  the  crowd,  and  so 
did  I,  and  in  addition  I  had  to  make  a  short  German  speech. 
Shields  and  Richardson  then  went  through  the  coun- 
ties between  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois.  Douglas  and  I  went 
up  north.  Our  next  meeting  was  a  failure.  The  packet-boat 
which  was  to  take  us  to  Keokuk,  where  we  were  bound  for, 
ran  on  a  sand-bar,  and  it  took  several  hours  before  we  got  off. 
Instead  of  arriving  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  it  was  near 
midnight  when  we  landed.  Of  course  the  people  had  given 
up  all  hopes  of  a  meeting  after  ten  o  'clock,  and  had  dispersed. 
A  heavy  rain-storm  had  also  set  in.  Yet  at  the  landing  we 
found  some  members  of  the  invitation  committee,  but  no  car- 
riage. We  had  to  climb  up  the  steep  bank  of  the  river  to 
the  heart  of  the  town,  which  is  built  on  the  top  of  the  hills. 
We  waded  almost  knee  deep  in  mud,  yet  took  it  in  rather  good 
humor.  The  committee,  though  disconsolate,  sent  around  and 
got  some  prominent  citizens  to  leave  their  beds  to  do  us  hom- 
age. We  had  the  usual  election  chat.  As  Keokuk  is  in  Iowa, 


RUNNING  FOB  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR      591 

missing  an  occasion  to  speak  there  was  not  of  much  conse- 
quence to  me;  but  as  Douglas  was,  according  to  the  general 
belief,  to  be  President  at  some  time,  he  did  not  take  the  mis- 
adventure gracefully.  The  next  day  being  a  Sunday,  the 
committee  gave  us  a  very  fine  drive  through  the  romantic  coun- 
try around  Keokuk,  a  flourishing  town.  The  river  being  very 
low,  no  boat  could  run  the  rapids  at  that  place.  So  we  had 
to  take  a  carriage  and  go  around  by  land  to  the  little  town 
of  Montrose,  from  whence  small  stern-wheel  boats  ran  up  the 
river.  It  was  a  most  beautiful  drive  along  the  hills  bordering 
the  Mississippi.  But  at  Montrose  we  had  to  lay  nearly  all  day 
before  our  little  boat  started. 

CAMPAIGNING  WITH  DOUGLAS 

Douglas  was  a  very  pleasant  companion.  There  were  few 
passengers,  and  none  of  any  particular  interest.  But  he  could 
work  with  any  material.  He  always  had  a  crowd  around  him, 
which  he  entertained.  Yet  he  was  no  story-teller,  and  would 
have  spoiled  the  best  story  in  telling  it,  —  in  fact,  he  had  very 
little  imaginative  power.  But  he  would  speak  of  his  travels, 
of  the  resources  of  the  different  States,  of  the  prospects  of  this 
or  that  city,  of  the  greatness  of  the  country,  giving  statistics, 
and  occasionally  talking  of  the  prominent  men  whom  he  had 
seen.  He  would  at  the  same  time,  without  lowering  himself, 
take  a  drink  when  invited  to  do  so,  and  shake  hands  and  laugh 
at  a  joke,  good  or  bad.  Lincoln  delighted  his  crowds  and  kept 
them  in  a  perfect  roar  of  laughter;  Douglas  interested  his 
hearers  by  his  impressive,  almost  enthusiastic,  conversation. 

On  we  went  slowly  enough.  There  being  no  towns  of 
importance  on  the  Illinois  side,  we  passed  Fort  Madison,  Des 
Moines  and  other  places  on  the  Iowa  side  without  stopping. 
These  towns  are  beautifully  situated  on  the  bluffs  and  pre- 
sent a  very  picturesque  view.  Rock  Island  we  passed  in  the 
night,  going  up  to  Galena,  where  a  big  meeting  had  been 
extensively  announced.  Galena  is  on  the  Fever  River, 
about  ten  miles  from  its  mouth  in  the  Mississippi.  On  this 


592  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

little  river  I  had  a  new  experience.  It  had  hardly  any  water 
in  it  at  that  time,  and  our  little  boat,  raising  all  possible  steam, 
ran  at  many  places  only  over  the  moist  bottom,  plowing  up 
the  mud. 

Galena  was  at  that  time  a  very  flourishing  city.  The  rich 
lead  mines  had  attracted  a  large  population,  and  the  shipping 
of  lead  to  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  caused  the  establishment 
of  large  commission  houses.  In  return,  Galena  received  gro- 
ceries and  dry-goods  to  be  distributed  to  the  neighboring  coun- 
ties of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin.  The  Union  Railroad,  connect- 
ing Galena  with  Chicago,  was  already  partly  built.  A  com- 
paratively large  German  population  resided  there.  We  were 
most  enthusiastically  received.  The  first  night  a  German 
meeting  was  held  in  the  court-house,  on  account  of  rain.  The 
second  day  there  was  a  great  open-air  mass-meeting  in  the 
afternoon,  and  Douglas  and  I  addressed  it.  In  the  evening 
there  was  a  serenade,  of  course,  and  speeches  again.  All  the 
hotels  were  so  crowded  that  we  had  to  sleep  not  only  in  one 
room,  but  in  one  bed.  We  found  here,  and  in  the  north  gen- 
erally, far  more  political  excitement  than  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  State,  for  the  reason  that  the  contest  here  was  much 
closer. 

Starting  on  a  beautiful  frosty  morning  in  a  light  barouche 
for  Freeport,  where  we  could  get  the  railroad,  and  where  a 
mass-meeting  was  to  take  place,  we  traveled  over  a  lovely 
country,  partly  rolling  prairie,  partly  timber.  We  relied  on 
our  driver  for  finding  the  way.  About  noon  we  stopped  at  a 
very  nice  wayside  tavern  for  dinner.  Douglas  asked  the  land- 
lord how  far  it  was  to  Freeport.  The  landlord  said :  ' '  About 
forty-five  miles  from  here.  You  are  in  Wisconsin  on  the 
road  to  Janesville."  "Is  it  possible?"  exclaimed  Douglas. 
"We  were  advertised  to  address  a  mass-meeting  at  three 
o  'clock  in  the  afternoon ;  we  thought  that  we  were  only  about 
ten  miles  from  Freeport." 

But  we  could  not  help  it,  and,  cursing  the  driver,  drove 
on.  At  seven  o'clock  night  overtook  us.  We  stopped  at  a 


RUNNING  FOR  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR      593 

farm-house.  We  were  fifteen  miles  east  of  Freeport.  We 
were  told  that  we  could  not  go  on,  as  we  had  to  cross  a  great 
many  creek-bottoms  and  creeks  with  narrow  bridges.  But 
Douglas  would  go  on.  We  got  a  lantern;  the  driver  had  to 
take  it  and  to  walk  ahead  of  us.  It  was  pitch  dark.  I  drove ; 
and  it  was  one  of  the  most  anxious  drives  I  ever  took. 
Through  the  bottoms  the  road  was  very  narrow.  It  was 
a  corduroy  road,  —  on  each  side  deep  ditches.  At  places  the 
rails  forming  the  road-bed  had  got  out  of  place.  The  driver 
had  grown  tired  walking  and  had  fallen  down  several  times, 
and  Douglas,  as  kind-hearted  a  man  as  ever  lived,  relieved 
him  from  time  to  time,  bearing  the  lantern  ahead.  But  the 
driver  let  me  drive  on;  he  thought  I  had  better  eyes  in  the 
dark  than  he.  Finally  we  came  into  Freeport  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  Of  course  there  had  been  another  great  dis- 
appointment. People  had  waited  patiently  until  nine  o'clock, 
believing  that  we  might  arrive  for  a  night  meeting.  About 
bed  time  most  everybody  had  gone  home.  Freeport,  now  one 
of  the  prettiest  and  largest  cities  in  northern  Illinois,  had 
then  but  one  small  frame  hotel.  A  good  many  people  from 
the  country  had  stayed  over  night  there,  and  there  was  not  a 
solitary  room  or  bed  to  be  had.  There  was  a  small  ladies' 
parlor.  The  landlady  spread  a  mattress  from  her  own  bed  on 
the  floor,  and  we  laid  down  side  by  side,  covering  ourselves 
with  our  overcoats;  after  our  day's  long  and  weary  trip,  we 
slept  soundly.  In  the  morning  we  took  the  cars,  and  at  the 
station  found  a  large  crowd  to  which  we  made  short  speeches. 

POLITICS  IN  CHICAGO  IN  1852 

After  attending  a  most  lively  mass-meeting  at  Belvidere, 
we  finally  reached  Chicago.  The  little  village  I  had  seen  in 
1836,  when  it  had  but  a  few  thousand  inhabitants,  was  now 
a  stately  city  of  70,000  inhabitants,  with  splendid  hotels,  solid 
business  buildings  and  elegant  residences.  We  stopped  at 
the  Tremont  and  engaged  a  parlor  with  a  bedroom  adjoining. 
The  election  fever  was  at  its  highest.  We  had  one  grand 


594  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOEBNER 

rally  where  Douglas  made  one  of  his  most  elaborate  speeches 
and  was  most  vociferously  applauded.  Of  course  I  had  to 
speak,  too.  Nothing  is  more  embarrassing  than  following  such 
a  popular  orator,  who  is  idolized  by  his  hearers,  for  one  is 
aware  that  he  is  only  listened  to  by  courtesy.  The  next  day, 
however,  a  separate  night-meeting  had  been  gotten  up  for 
me,  to  speak  in  German  at  the  Market  Hall.  The  place  was 
packed.  The  Germans  are  not  nearly  as  demonstrative  as  the 
Americans.  But  the  Chicago  politicians,  John  Wentworth, 
for  one,  and  Doctor  A.  Egan,  the  Irish  leader,  for  another, 
both  giants  in  stature,  and  well  practiced  in  the  art  of  man- 
aging meetings,  were  there  with  big  canes.  They  did  not 
understand  a  word  I  said,  but  waited,  and  when  they  saw 
the  Germans  were  pleased,  they  thundered  their  canes  on  the 
floor  and  cheered  at  the  top  of  their  voices.  The  Germans 
caught  the  spirit,  and  soon  became  as  tumultous  as  Wentworth 
and  Egan.  The  best  German  people  were  present,  however, 
and  I  had  the  satisfaction  to  learn  that  they  were  pleased  with 
my  efforts. 

What  was  most  amusing  was  the  reports  of  the  city  papers 
on  the  meetings  next  day.  The  Democratic  papers  —  they 
stated  —  were  unable  to  count  the  immense  number  of  the 
audience.  The  procession  covered  five  or  six  miles;  the 
speeches  were  admirable,  and  equal  to  any  ever  heard  before 
from  the  most  eloquent  statesmen.  The  Whig  papers  repre- 
sented the  gatherings  as  respectable  in  number,  but,  consid- 
ering the  great  reputation  of  Douglas,  as  rather  a  failure. 
Douglas  was  not  at  his  best.  As  to  the  German  meeting  they 
were  not  prepared  to  say  anything,  since  Judge  Koerner 
spoke  unknown  tongues  to  them;  but  some  intelligent  Ger- 
mans had  informed  them  that  he  had  belittled  Scott 's  military 
fame  at  the  cost  of  General  Pierce 's.  This  of  course  was  a 
downright  lie.  But  one  gets  used  to  this  after  awhile.  I 
will  add  here,  that  in  the  middle  of  my  speech  at  the  German 
meeting  Douglas  came  in,  and,  when  I  closed,  he  made  a  short 
but  very  stirring  talk,  lauding  me  to  the  skies  and  stating  that 


RUNNING  FOR  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR      595 

he  endorsed  everything  I  had  said.  He  did  not  understand  a 
word  of  German. 

Chicago  just  then  was  really  a  place  of  much  interest. 
John  Wentworth,  called  Long  John,  six  feet  six  inches  high, 
one  of  the  greatest  demagogues  then  living,  but  also  having 
some  good  qualities  about  him,  was  running  for  Congress,  and 
he  made  things  hot  for  his  opponent.  We  spent  much  time  in 
our  room,  which  was  constantly  full  of  people.  I  met  also  at 
the  Tremont,  Senator  John  P.  Hale,  then  candidate  for  Pres- 
ident on  the  Free  Soil  and  Abolition  ticket.  He  had  always 
been  a  radical  Democrat,  but  on  the  slavery  question  he  had 
separated  from  his  party  and  was  running  as  an  independent 
Democrat,  while  he  had  also  been  nominated  by  a  convention 
of  Abolitionists.  He  was  a  man  not  only  of  great  talent  but 
even  of  genius,  a  classical  scholar,  an  eloquent  speaker,  and  a 
great  wit.  His  indulgence  in  satire  and  humor  often  made 
people  think  that  he  was  not  in  earnest,  and  had  taken  his 
bold  position,  which  then  isolated  him  from  the  Democratic 
as  well  as  the  Whig  party,  merely  from  a  desire  to  make  him- 
self famous.  In  conversation  he  was  really  fascinating,  and  I 
was  very  glad  to  have  met  him.  I  had  no  idea  then  that  he 
would  be  my  successor  at  the  court  of  Madrid. 

It  was  here  that  I  also  met  E.  B.  Washburne  for  the  first 
time.  He  was  running  for  Congress  in  a  district  adjoining 
Chicago  and  as  a  Whig  against  Thompson  Campbell,  the  witty 
and  talented  former  Secretary  of  State.  When  he  came  up 
to  our  rooms  one  evening  late,  he  had  just  returned  from  a 
long  electioneering  tour,  was  bespattered  with  mud,  and 
seemed  to  be  tired  out,  having  ridden  over  the  rough  prairies 
west  of  Chicago.  He  was  a  very  rugged,  uncouth  looking  man, 
blunt  in  his  speech  and  rather  unmannerly,  but  full  of  con- 
fidence and  energy  and  hard  sense.  Who  could  have  then 
imagined  that  this  burly  specimen  of  American  Democracy 
would  at  a  not  very  distant  time  represent  this  country  at  the 
imperial  court  of  France!  Norman  B.  Judd,  a  resident  of 
Chicago,  was  almost  constantly  with  Douglas  and  myself;  so 


596  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

that  at  this  time,  in  the  same  place,  there  were  four  young  men 
gathered,  who  some  ten  or  twelve  years  after  were  ministers  to 
foreign  courts,  Judd  being  appointed  in  1861  Minister  to 
Berlin. 

On  a  Sunday  Douglas  took  a  carriage  and  drove  me  all 
around  Chicago.  He  was  perfectly  familiar  with  the  place, 
pointed  out  all  the  eligible  building  sites,  spoke  with  prophetic 
enthusiasm  of  the  possibilities  of  Chicago,  and  of  its  soon 
becoming  a  city  of  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people. 
He  knew  what  the  lumber  trade  had  amounted  to  in  the  last 
year,  and  how  many  tons  of  shipping  had  entered  and  left 
the  port.  He  finally  took  me  to  an  outside  lot  of  some  acres, 
which  he  had  acquired  near  the  lake  and  on  which  there  was  a 
little  cottage,  where  he  spent  part  of  his  time  when  not  in 
Washington.  His  wife  was  a  Southern  lady ;  she  was  absent ; 
but  his  two  little  boys  were  there  under  the  care  of  a  house- 
keeper. They  were  nice  little  fellows.  I  believe  his  monu- 
ment stands  now  near  this  piece  of  ground. 

I  parted  unwillingly  from  Chicago.  I  had  made  many 
lasting  friends  among  the  Americans  as  well  as  among  the 
Germans. 

CANVASSING  THE  REST  OF  THE  STATE 

Our  next  meeting  was  at  Joliet.  This  was  Matteson's 
home.  He  had  arranged  everything  very  handsomely  for  our 
reception.  There  was  a  banquet,  a  great  mass  meeting,  and  a 
ladies'  reception.  Late  in  the  evening  we  took  a  canal-boat 
for  La  Salle  and  Peru,  but  could  not  stay  there  to  speak,  as 
the  packet-boat  for  Peoria  was  just  leaving. 

At  Peoria  we  had  one  of  our  largest  meetings,  and  a 
glorious  time.  Here  we  separated,  Douglas  going  west  and 
I  east.  This  three  weeks'  journey,  where  we  were  almost  un- 
interruptedly together,  and  where  I  observed  him  closely  in 
his  intercourse  with  others,  gave  me,  I  believe,  a  pretty  clear 
insight  into  the  character  of  this  most  extraordinary  man. 

Regarding  public  speaking,  one  striking  feature  in  Amer- 
ican speakers  is  the  sameness  of  their  addresses.  When  about 


RUNNING  FOR  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR      597 

to  make  a  canvass,  the  campaigner,  as  a  general  rule,  prepares 
very  carefully  one  speech,  or  at  least  extended  notes  of  one, 
and  that  speech  he  delivers  at  least  one  hundred  times.  Of 
course,  able  debaters  will  be  ready  to  answer  interruptions 
or  bring  in  some  argument  on  facts  happening  while  he  is  on 
his  tour.  He  will,  as  Douglas  did,  when  pressed  for  time,  or 
before  a  small  meeting,  drop  part  and  even  a  large  part  of 
his  speech.  But  the  skeleton  remains  the  same ;  the  simile,  the 
anecdote  come  in  at  the  same  place.  I  often  wondered  that 
these  orators  did  not  become  sick  of  their  eternal  reiteration. 
As  a  matter  of  courtesy,  I  had  to  be  on  the  platform  all  the 
time  when  Douglas  spoke,  and  I  must  say  that  towards  the 
last  it  became  pretty  painful.  I,  of  course,  used  mostly  the 
same  arguments  on  the  pending  issues  in  all  my  speeches ;  but, 
even  if  I  had  tried,  I  could  not  have  used  them  every  time  in 
the  same  consecutive  order  or  in  the  same  language. 

Specially  invited,  I  spoke  at  Pekin  and  Beardstown, 
places  with  a  large  and  very  intelligent  German  population. 
Then  I  went  across  to  Springfield,  where  two  meetings,  one 
German,  were  held;  and,  after  having  spoken  at  Carlinville 
and  Alton,  I  reached  home  just  three  days  before  the  election. 

No  one  who  has  not  tried  it  can  form  a  true  idea  of  what 
canvassing  a  State  means.  These  electioneering  tours  are 
most  properly  called  campaigns.  To  say  that  they  are  alto- 
gether trouble  and  vexation,  would  be  wrong.  Traveling 
through  the  country,  in  part  new  to  one,  is  in  itself  exhilarat- 
ing and  interesting.  Necessarily  one  is  brought  together  with 
many  persons  favorably  noted  for  some  quality  or  another. 
To  speak  to  an  appreciative  and  often  intelligent  audience  is 
gratifying.  The  most  ludicrous  scenes  are  sometimes  wit- 
nessed. For  some  reason  or  another  failures  will  happen. 
The  invitation  committee  gives  you  a  thousand  reasons  for  it. 
The  posters  were  put  out  too  late;  there  was  a  big  circus  at 
some  neighboring  place;  the  creeks  were  up;  some  opposition 
rascals  had  spread  the  rumor  that  a  case  of  smallpox  was  in 
town.  The  true  reason  generally  was  that  there  were  not 


598  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

enough  people  of  the  right  political  color  in  the  county  to 
make  up  a  respectable  crowd. 

In  the  country  towns  the  processions  were  often  most 
grotesque.  A  half  a  dozen  marshals  could  be  seen  riding 
about  frantically.  Finally,  they  would  take  their  place  at 
the  head  of  the  procession;  then  followed  the  unavoidable 
brass  band,  and  the  carriage  with  the  speaker  and  committee- 
men;  but  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  marshals  to  make  the 
crowd  fall  in  and  march  in  the  procession,  the  farmers,  not 
being  drilled  to  it  like  the  city  people,  were  shy  and  stayed 
out,  making  the  parade  a  fizzle.  They  were,  however,  at  the 
speaking  place  all  the  same. 

To  one  man  of  good  sense  who  approaches  you  there  are 
ten  bores  who  annoy  you  to  death  by  their  protestations  of 
loyalty  to  the  party  and  by  tales  of  their  party  work.  Other 
horrible  inflictions  are  the  campaign  glee-clubs  —  male  and 
female  —  singing  ridiculous  party-ditties  through  their  noses, 
brass  bands  playing  within  doors,  and  the  stench  of  petroleum 
torches.  But,  taken  all  in  all,  I  generally  felt  in  much  better 
health  after  a  hard  campaign  than  before  I  entered  upon  it. 

THE  ELECTION 

I  found  on  my  return,  St.  Clair  County  in  very  bad  shape. 
Morrison  had  managed  things  admirably.  The  Whig  party 
had  no  candidates  out  except  Morrison.  In  this  way  the  Dem- 
ocratic candidates  for  the  Legislature  and  the  county  offices 
had  no  opposition  and  of  course  no  particular  interest  to 
fight  for  the  Democratic  ticket,  or,  if  they  had,  it  was  only 
to  get  Whig  votes,  since  for  all  the  offices  there  were  more 
Democratic  candidates  than  offices.  Their  main  object  was 
to  beat  one  another.  Mrs.  Morrison,  being  a  Catholic,  had 
brought  her  husband  in  contact  with  all  the  Catholic  priests 
in  St.  Clair  and  the  adjoining  counties.  In  fact,  most  people 
believed  him  to  be  a  Catholic.  I  had  published  in  the  "Zei- 
tung"  nearly  all  the  great  speeches  of  Kossuth,  and  I  had  de- 
nounced the  attacks  made  upon  him  by  the  Catholic  clergy. 


RUNNING  FOR  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR      599 

Morrison  made  the  best  use  of  these  circumstances,  and  as  the 
Catholics  were  generally  Democrats,  their  alienation  from  me 
was  most  injurious.  He  also  spent  a  large  amount  of  money 
to  buy  votes.  Treating  on  the  day  of  election  was  not  un- 
common before  this  time ;  but  he  authorized  a  number  of  grog- 
shops and  beer-saloons  weeks  ahead  to  treat  for  him.  And  on 
election  day  it  appeared  that  thousands  of  tickets  had  been 
printed  headed  "Democratic  Ticket,"  containing  in  fact  all 
the  Democratic  candidates  from  the  Presidential  electors  down 
to  constables,  with  the  exception  of  my  name,  for  which  that 
of  Morrison  was  substituted.  A  lot  of  the  Democratic  sat- 
ellites of  Morrison  distributed  them  at  the  polls  to  the  Demo- 
cratic voters. 

I  was  very  much  handicapped  in  another  way.  Colonel 
Bissell,  in  1848,  had  been  elected  to  Congress  without  oppo- 
sition. Everybody  expected  that  now,  after  he  had  by  his 
action  in  Congress  obtained  a  national  reputation,  he  would 
meet  with  no  serious  opposition.  For  some  time  a  rumor  had 
prevailed  that  he  was  to  be  appointed  to  a  very  high  and 
lucrative  office  in  the  administration  of  the  Central  Railroad, 
the  charter  of  which  Bissell  had  been  very  instrumental  in 
passing  through  the  Legislature,  and  that  he  had  declined  to 
be  a  candidate  for  Congress.  This  rumor,  which  turned  out 
to  be  unfounded,  was  used  by  some  very  ambitious  politicians 
to  put  forward  their  own  names  as  candidates.  Some  members 
of  the  Legislature,  then  in  special  session  at  Springfield,  had 
called  a  convention,  to  meet  at  Carlyle  at  an  early  day,  to 
make  the  nomination  for  Congress.  This  was  entirely  irreg- 
ular. The  Congressional  Committee  for  the  district  was  the 
only  body  authorized  to  call  a  convention.  St.  Clair,  Monroe 
and  Marion  Counties  declined  to  send  delegates,  but  asked  the 
convention  to  adjourn  until  a  later  day,  so  that  Col.  Bissell 
could  be  at  home  after  the  session  closed  and  see  his  friends 
before  the  convention  acted.  Of  course,  this  did  not  satisfy 
the  aspirants,  who  were  Breese  from  Clinton,  Judge  Martin 
from  Madison,  and  Anderson,  a  young  politician  from  Jefferson 


600  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

County.  Ph.  B.  Fouke,  from  St.  Glair,  a  fluent  speaker,  a 
very  superficial  young  man,  with  no  solid  standing  in  the 
community,  had  also  aspirations.  Besides  these  three  counties 
named,  Bond,  Washington,  and  Randolph  were  represented. 
They  refused  to  postpone  the  nomination,  quarreled  amongst 
themselves,  and  finally  took  up  Fouke  and  nominated  him. 
Of  course,  Bissell  and  his  friends  did  not  feel  bound  by  this 
proceeding.  He  declared  himself  a  candidate.  He  very  gen- 
erously offered  to  release  me  under  the  circumstances  from 
all  obligations  I  might  think  myself  to  be  under  to  support 
him.  But  everybody  knew  that  I  would  support  him. 

The  "Belleviller  Zeitung"  put  his  name  at  the  head  of 
its  columns  as  the  Democratic  candidate,  ignored  Fouke  en- 
tirely, and  of  course  set  all  Fouke 's  friends,  who  fortunately 
were  not  many,  against  me.  I  explained  my  embarrassed  sit- 
uation in  a  few  lines  to  Douglas,  and  on  the  Saturday  before 
the  election  he  came  down  to  Belleville,  had  a  tremendous 
meeting,  and  made  one  of  the  most  rousing  speeches  of  the 
campaign.  It  certainly  helped  me  a  good  deal.  My  friends 
had  been  very  despondent;  the  Morrison  men,  jubilant.  The 
latter  had  bet  heavily  that  Morrison  would  beat  me  in  the 
county  and  in  the  Congressional  district.  Morrison  himself, 
the  day  before  the  election,  in  the  presence  of  some  of  his 
admirers,  in  a  very  loud  voice  offered  to  bet  me  a  hundred 
dollars  that  he  would  beat  me  in  Belleville.  I  quietly  took 
the  bet,  and  deposited  the  money.  On  the  evening  before  the 
election  in  a  violent  rain  shower  I  made  my  last  speech  in 
Belleville  in  this  campaign. 

Pierce  and  King  were  elected  by  the  biggest  electoral 
majority  heretofore  known.  They  received  two  hundred  and 
forty-four  electoral  votes  to  General  Scott's  and  Graham's 
forty-three,  and  a  popular  majority  of  250,000.  The  Demo- 
cratic ticket  in  St.  Glair  County  had  on  an  average  of  1,500 
majority,  while  I  received  only  ninety-four  over  Morrison. 
As  the  Whig  vote  in  St.  Glair  County  for  Governor  reached 
only  nine  hundred  and  some  odd  votes,  it  was  evident  that 


RUNNING  FOR  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR      601 

about  eight  hundred  Democrats  had  voted  for  Morrison,  in 
return  for  as  many  Whigs  voting  the  whole  Democratic  ticket 
with  my  name  stricken  out. 

The  average  Democratic  majority  in  the  State  was  about 
fifteen  thousand.  Owing  to  the  defection  in  St.  Clair  and 
some  other  counties,  I  ran  about  a  thousand  votes  behind. 
Leaving  out  the  St.  Clair  Congressional  district,  I  ran  ahead 
of  Matteson  in  the  eight  others  two  hundred  votes,  and  of 
Pierce  and  King  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  votes.  I  beat 
Morrison  in  Belleville  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  votes,  and 
in  the  Congressional  district  several  thousand  votes.  I  must 
say  that  I  took  Morrison's  one  hundred  dollars  with  consider- 
able satisfaction.  Bissell  beat  Fouke  over  a  thousand  votes. 

In  fact,  I  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  this  election.  Mat- 
teson was  a  Democrat,  so  far  as  always  to  vote  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket;  and,  being  rich,  he  had  liberally  contributed  to 
party  purposes.  He  was  a  farmer,  a  manufacturer,  a  con- 
tractor of  public  works,  and  a  railroad  man,  and  the  Whigs 
had  no  personal  dislike  to  him.  I  had  for  nearly  twenty  years 
been  an  active  Democrat,  had  tried  to  hit  the  opposition  as 
hard  as  I  could,  had  just  traversed  the  State,  and  had  not 
spared  my  opponents.  The  Whigs  had  called  our  ticket  the 
Kangaroo  ticket;  and  their  attacks  were  directed  against  me, 
and  not  against  Matteson.  The  greatest  satisfaction  my  suc- 
cess gave  me  was  that  I  knew  how  Pauline  and  Gharles  would 
enjoy  it. 

Just  a  few  days  before  the  election,  Daniel  Webster  died. 
He  had  been  ill  for  some  months,  but  it  was  not  thought  that 
his  disease  would  turn  out  fatal.  In  the  turmoil  and  excite- 
ment immediately  before  and  after  the  election,  this  event 
was  not  so  much  noticed  as  it  otherwise  would  have  been. 
With  him  died  the  last  of  the  three  greatest  statesmen  of  that 
generation.  A  more  profound  lawyer  than  Clay,  indeed  con- 
sidered the  head  of  the  American  bar  as  an  expounder  of  the 
Constitution,  as  eloquent  as  Clay,  though  in  a  different  style, 
a  massive  thinker  equal  to  Calhoun,  he  had  been  constantly 


602  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

set  aside  by  his  party.  Although  highly  esteemed,  and  in 
New  England  until  lately  idolized,  he  had  always  been 
dropped  by  policy  in  his  party's  nominations  for  President. 
To  see  a  political  nonentity,  like  Scott,  preferred  to  him,  had 
given  him  the  most  bitter  pangs;  and  many  contended  that 
Webster  had  died  of  a  broken  heart. 

My  absence  from  home  prevented  me  from  attending 
the  golden  wedding  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Engelmann,  who  were 
then  in  perfect  health  and  surrounded  by  a  large  number  of 
their  children,  relatives  and  friends.  It  was  a  most  joyous 
and  impressive  gathering.  I  missed  it  most  regretfully. 
Under  the  lead  of  Emma  Thilenius,  the  children  and  grand- 
children saluted  the  bride  and  the  bridegroom  with  a  song 
that  warmly  expressed  my  feelings  for  these  noble  parents. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

The  Lieutenant-Governorship  (1853-1856) 

In  January,  1853,  Governor  Matteson  and  myself  were 
installed  in  our  offices  with  the  usual  ceremony.  The  weather 
being  fair,  there  were  large  crowds  in  the  streets  and  in  the 
halls  of  the  Senate  and  the  House.  Governor  Reynolds  was 
elected  speaker  of  the  House,  so  that  both  Houses  were  pre- 
sided over  by  two  Belleville  men,  —  a  rather  unparalleled 
event.  William  H.  Snyder,  son  of  A.  W.  Snyder,  who  had 
studied  law  in  my  office,  was  a  member  of  the  House.  The 
Senate  being  a  very  small  body  it  was  easy  enough  to  keep  it 
good  order.  Norman  B.  Judd,  from  Chicago,  a  leading  Dem- 
ocrat of  fine  presence  and  excellent  judgment,  a  ready  speaker, 
and  afterwards  our  Minister  to  Berlin  and  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, was  the  leader.  John  M.  Palmer,  of  Carlinville,  whom 
I  had  known  at  the  Circuit  as  a  young  lawyer,  and  who  had 
made  himself  favorably  known  as  a  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1848,  and  of  whom  I  may  have  to  speak 
often  hereafter,  was  also  a  prominent  member  on  the  Demo- 
cratic side.  So  was  Burton  C.  Cook,  a  very  fine  lawyer,  who 
has  filled  many  high  positions  in  this  State.  The  present 
Judge  Blodgett  of  the  United  States  District  Court  was  also 
one  of  the  Senators. 

In  spite  of  the  elastic  clause  of  the  Constitution  prohib- 
iting special  legislation,  there  were  three  times  more  laws 
passed  of  a  special  character  in  this  than  in  any  previous 
session.  This  gave  the  presiding  officer  a  great  deal  of  mere 
routine  business,  for  he  had  to  bring  every  bill  to  a  vote  at 
least  three  times  at  its  different  readings,  and  then  again  on 
its  final  passage,  stating  the  questions  distinctly  and  precisely. 


604  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

I  left  this  part  of  the  business  frequently  to  others  who  liked  it 
a  great  deal  better  than  I  did,  calling  upon  them  to  occupy 
the  chair  in  my  place.  On  important  questions  I  took  part 
in  the  debate,  such  questions  being  referred  before  final  pas- 
sage to  the  Senate  as  a  Committee  of  the  Whole,  when  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  is  allowed  to  speak  by  a  clause  in  the 
Constitution. 

Douglas  was  unanimously  nominated  in  the  Democratic 
Caucus  for  United  States  Senator,  and  of  course  reflected  by 
the  two  Houses.  He  was  not  present,  as  he  had  no  opposition. 
His  friends  gave  a  great  party  at  the  State  House.  Gentlemen 
and  ladies  from  all  parts  of  the  State  and  from  St.  Louis 
attended  it.  Sophie  did  not  come,  though,  of  course,  she  was 
specially  invited.  Such  large  assemblies  were  never  an  attrac- 
tion to  her,  and,  only  when  compelled  to  do  so,  did  she  join 
them.  The  party,  owing  to  the  many  invitations,  was  a  real 
rout.  Only  after  midnight  was  there  room  for  dancing.  The 
supper-room  was  taken  by  storm,  and  many  who  disliked  be- 
ing crushed  went  without  supper.  Brandy  and  champagne 
flowed  in  streams;  and,  of  course,  there  was  much  noise  and 
tumult.  The  Legislature  had  to  adjourn  next  day  to  allow 
time  to  have  the  State  House  put  in  a  decent  condition  again. 

In  the  whiter  Colonel  Bissell  was  taken  quite  ill.  It  was 
paralysis  of  the  nether  limbs.  Though  the  disease  was  only 
incipient,  it  prevented  him  from  attending  the  sittings  for 
weeks.  He  sought  relief  in  the  summer  at  Orange  Springs, 
N.  J.  He  wrote  me  many  letters,  all  hopeful.  A  trip  to  Cuba 
gave  him  some  deceptive  relief.  But  he  never  really  recovered, 
and  in  the  course  of  years  his  health  grew  steadily  worse. 
This  was  very  much  to  be  regretted.  Though  his  mind  was  not 
affected  and  remained  clear  and  active,  yet  the  affliction  never- 
theless destroyed  much  of  his  usef ulness. 

PERSONAL 

Jacob  Engelmann  had  gone  on  a  visit  to  Germany.  He  of 
course  visited  my  Frankfort  home.  Had  he  not  fixed  his  de- 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  605 

parture  for  a  quite  early  day  the  following  year,  Pauline,  in 
spite  of  her  poor  health,  would  have  come  over  with  him. 
While  visiting  the  family  of  Emma  Thilenius,  he  had  engaged 
himself  to  one  of  her  sisters,  Doris,  a  beautiful  young  girl,  and 
she  was  to  azcompany  him  home,  together  with  another  sister, 
Charlotte,  and  a  lady  friend.  Certainly  Pauline  could  not  have 
had  a  better  chance  for  an  agreeable  journey  than  the  one  now 
offered.  But  Jacob  was  to  leave  Bremen  for  Liverpool  in 
February,  in  order  to  sail  on  the  first  of  March  for  the  United 
States.  At  this  season,  both  on  account  of  her  state  of  health 
and  the  perils  of  the  sea,  Pauline  and  also  my  friend  Hoffmann 
thought  it  too  dangerous  an  undertaking  for  her  to  start. 

On  the  26th  of  May  another  most  lovely  little  child  was 
born  to  us,  Victor,  who  soon  became  our  pet. 

On  the  night  of  the  21st  of  January  our  house  took  fire. 
The  chimney  in  the  mansard  room  must  have  been  defective. 
It  had  been  on  fire  during  the  day,  but  had  not  burnt  through 
till  evening,  when  some  of  the  woodwork  near  the  chimney 
must  have  become  ignited.  Theodore  had  gone  out  into  the 
walk  around  the  house  to  close  the  window-shutters  of  the 
rooms  below,  when  he  observed  a  glare  in  the  east  room  of 
the  attic.  He  ran  in,  and  I  at  once  filled  a  bucket  with  water 
in  the  kitchen  and  hastened  up  stairs,  Theodore  following 
with  another  bucket  full.  When  we  came  up,  the  smoke  was 
stifling ;  but  if  we  had  had  a  few  more  buckets,  we  could  have 
extinguished  the  fire.  By  the  time  Theodore  returned  with 
two  more  buckets,  the  smoke  was  suffocating  us,  and  we  had 
to  give  up.  Round  the  room  next  to  the  floor  ran  a  row  of 
presses  filled  with  files  of  old  reviews,  congressional  documents, 
remnants  of  wall  paper,  and  many  other  inflammatory  things. 
Our  house  at  that  time  stood  rather  isolated.  There  were  but 
few  neighbors.  Some  of  them  tried  to  climb  from  the  roof  of 
a  whig  of  the  house,  which  was  lower  than  the  main  building, 
onto  the  roof  of  the  latter.  But  there  had  been  a  rain  lately, 
and,  the  weather  having  suddenly  turned  very  cold,  the  roof, 
the  walks  around  the  house,  and  the  streets  were  all  a  sheet 


606  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

of  ice.  The  floor  of  the  garret  soon  burned  through,  and  the 
fire  fell  into  the  bedroom,  where  Sophie  and  I  and  Victor 
slept.  Victor  was  already  sleeping  in  his  cradle,  and  Sophie, 
wrapping  him  up,  (for  it  was  a  bitter  cold  night,)  carried 
him  over  to  Mrs.  Abend's  house,  which  was  only  about  fifty 
yards  from  our  own  place.  By  this  time  a  number  of  persons 
had  arrived  from  town,  and  we  began  saving  furniture,  car- 
pets, piano,  etc.,  on  the  first  and  second  floors.  Very  little 
could  be  saved  from  the  second  floor.  When  the  fire-engine 
arrived,  it  was  too  late  to  stop  the  conflagration;  besides,  the 
water  almost  immediately  froze  in  the  pipes.  A  high  north- 
west wind  prevailed.  The  east  wall  was  blown  down  hi  the 
night,  the  west  wall  followed  next  morning.  We  found  hos- 
pitable shelter  at  the  Abends'  for  some  days. 

Fortunately,  a  new  and  very  good  house,  built  by  Mr.  A. 
Anderson,  was  then  for  rent,  and  he  offered  it  to  us  at  once 
free,  until  our  house  was  rebuilt.  I,  however,  did  not  accept 
of  his  generosity,  though  for  the  first  two  months  he  absolutely 
refused  to  take  any  rent.  The  livery-stable  man  also  did  not 
want  to  charge  me  for  stabling  my  two  horses.  What  is  more, 
my  friends  started  at  once  a  subscription  to  raise  money  to 
enable  me  to  build  a  new  house,  —  the  money  to  be  advanced 
to  me  without  interest  until  I  could  repay  it.  Of  course,  this 
was  meant  as  a  donation.  At  that  time,  it  was  not  unusual 
for  the  friends  of  a  person  who  had  been  burnt  out,  to  get  to- 
gether and  build  him  a  new  house.  There  were  already  some 
eighteen  hundred  dollars  subscribed  when  I  learned  of  the 
matter.  I,  however,  declined  the  offer.  I  wrote  to  the  com- 
mittee that  I  thought  I  could  by  my  own  efforts  make  good 
the  loss,  but  that  I  nevertheless  felt  as  grateful  to  them  as  if 
I  had  accepted  their  contribution.  As  I  had  no  insurance  I 
found  myself  in  very  straitened  circumstances.  I  had  hardly 
finished  paying  for  the  house  when  it  was  destroyed.  But  my 
practice  had  become  more  lucrative,  and  was  promising  to 
become  very  good.  In  my  professional,  as  well  as  my  polit- 
ical, career,  I  felt  the  necessity  of  remaining  entirely  independ- 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  607 

ent  and  of  not  contracting  any  obligations,  even  to  my  friends, 
which  might  have  embarrassed  my  action.  I  can  now  hardly 
understand  how  it  was  that  Sophie  and  all  of  us  took  this  ac- 
cident so  coolly  and  easily.  There  was  no  complaining.  We 
all  had  escaped  safely.  We  were  young  and  full  of  self-re- 
liance. We  almost  smiled  at  the  many  letters  of  condolence 
we  received.  Yet  some  of  the  losses  by  the  fire,  in  themselves 
rather  small,  were  most  painfully  regretted  by  us.  Juvenile 
books  sent  from  my  family  in  Frankfort,  and  many  other 
presents  from  Germany  to  the  children  from  year  to  year,  a 
great  many  interesting  pamphlets  and  files  of  German  papers 
sent  by  Charles,  a  great  part  of  my  diary,  which  I  had  kept 
up  to  the  day  of  my  marriage,  and  the  late  Christmas  gifts 
to  the  children,  some  right  from  Frankfort,  with  souvenirs  of 
all  kinds,  were  totally  destroyed. 

A  few  weeks  afterwards  Colonel  Bissell  informed  us,  that 
if  we  so  desired,  he  would,  as  there  was  a  vacancy  in  our  Con- 
gressional district,  present  Theodore  as  a  candidate  for  cadet 
at  West  Point.  At  the  same  time  I  received  a  thousand  dollar 
fee  for  a  case  I  had  argued  at  the  Supreme  Court  the  previous 
fall  for  a  railroad  company.  These  favorable  occurrences  just 
at  the  time  of  our  loss  were  really  remarkable,  and  seemed  in 
sort  a  compensation.  A  few  days  after  the  fire  the  ground  was 
cleared,  and  I  at  once  made  contracts  for  rebuilding  at  the 
earliest  possible  period.  I  was  soon  called  away  to  Spring- 
field to  attend  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature,  called  by 
Governor  Matteson. 

LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OP  1854 

At  the  regular  session  in  1853,  a  bill  chartering  an  air-line 
railroad  from  Terre  Haute  to  St.  Louis,  which  might  have 
come  through  Belleville,  or  at  any  rate  through  Highland  in 
Madison  County  and  through  a  part  of  St.  Clair  County,  had, 
by  a  very  few  votes,  been  defeated  by  an  unholy  alliance  be- 
tween the  advocates  of  the  Alton  or  State  policy  and  some 
candidates  for  the  speakership  of  the  House  and  other  of- 


608  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

fices,  who,  formerly  in  favor  of  the  bill,  now  turned  against 
it.  Such  a  combination  could  not  be  repeated  at  the  special 
session,  where  the  old  officers  still  presided.  Col.  John  Brough, 
a  noted  railroad  man,  was  at  the  head  of  the  contemplated 
railroad  company,  which  had  a  powerful  support  in  the  East. 
Terre  Haute  was  then  one  of  the  great  railroad  centers  in  the 
West,  and  presented  by  far  the  most  desirable  connection  for 
St.  Louis.  The  line  is  now  known  as  the  Vandalia  Route,  one 
of  the  best  equipped  and  most  popular  routes  from  East  to 
West.  Col.  Brough  was  anxious  to  obtain  the  charter  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  he  applied  to  me  to  assist  him.  I  had  always 
been  its  warm  friend ;  so  I  set  to  work,  only  to  find  that  Gov- 
ernor Matteson,  a  very  timid  politician,  was  rather  afraid 
to  call  an  extra  session.  But  I  finally  succeeded.  On  the  2nd 
of  January,  Matteson  wrote  me  a  long  letter  expressing  his 
fears  that  the  call  would  make  him  unpopular,  and  stating 
that  he  had  thus  far  been  unable  to  give  me  much  encourage- 
ment, although  I  had  been  urgent  for  the  call ;  but  that  now 
he  would  say  that  he  was  ready  to  call  the  Legislature  together 
about  the  10th  of  February,  1854.  ''I  think,"  he  continued, 
"the  friends  of  the  call  should  feel  under  very  great  obliga- 
tions to  you  for  the  very  faithful  manner  in  which  you  have 
advocated  their  cause.  I  assure  you  that  the  arguments  used 
in  the  public  papers  from  yourself,  have  had  much  to  do  with 
fixing  my  mind  in  favor  of  making  the  call. ' '  He  wound  up 
his  letter  by  calling  upon  me  to  furnish  him  my  ideas  to  be 
embodied  in  his  message. 

I  believe  I  may  say,  without  being  guilty  of  vanity,  that 
this  extra  session  was  my  session.  Still,  terrible  efforts  were 
made  to  defeat  the  charter,  which  passed  by  one  or  two  votes 
in  the  Senate  and  by  a  large  majority  in  the  House. 

Colonel  Brough  met,  however,  with  many  difficulties,  ow- 
ing to  the  great  financial  crash  of  1857.  The  road,  however, 
was  finally  built.  Brough  was  a  man  of  most  energetic  char- 
acter, of  great  sagacity,  and  became  subsequently  Governor  of 
Indiana.  Our  intercourse  was  very  friendly  during  all  the 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  609 

time  this  road  was  building ;  but  in  later  years  it  so  happened 
that  we  never  met  again. 

VISIT  OP  THE  LEGISLATURE  TO  CHICAGO 

The  Legislature  had  received  an  invitation  from  Chicago 
to  visit  that  city  and  to  attend  a  banquet  and  ball  on  the  17th 
of  the  month.  About  a  hundred  members  and  officers  of  the 
Legislature,  and  some  specially  invited  guests,  left  Springfield 
on  the  16th.  Governor  Matteson  positively  refused  to  be  one 
of  the  party,  and  so  I  had  to  take  his  place  at  a  great  trouble. 
About  noon  we  reached  the  Central  Railroad  at  a  provisional 
station  now  called  Normal,  near  Bloomington,  where  we  were 
received  by  Colonel  Mason,  president  or  superintendent  of 
the  Central,  and  some  of  the  directors  and  engineers.  In  a 
sort  of  shanty  a  most  luxurious  lunch  was  set  out,  and  the 
choicest  liquors  and  wines  were  served  in  abundance.  Ameri- 
cans, as  a  rule,  are  a  very  sober  and  quiet  set  of  people,  but 
on  occasions  like  the  present  one  they  act  like  a  parcel  of 
school  boys  suddenly  dismissed  from  school.  When  we  got 
into  the  Central  cars  again,  there  was  no  end  of  story  telling, 
singing  and  playing  of  practical  jokes.  Of  course,  when 
ladies  are  present  their  spirits  are  under  restraint.  But  we 
had  none  amongst  us.  A  sixty-mile  ride,  a  very  rough  one, 
as  the  road  was  yet  new  and  unsettled,  brought  us  opposite  to 
La  Salle. 

There  was  at  that  time  no  bridge  over  the  Illinois  River. 
From  the  top  of  the  bluff  the  cars  were  let  down  by  means  of 
strong  ropes  on  an  inclined  plane  to  a  transfer-boat,  which 
took  us  over  to  La  Salle.  Here  we  were  to  take  the  Rock 
Island  cars  for  Chicago;  but  they  were  not  ready  when  we 
arrived,  and  we  had  to  wait  at  the  depot,  a  mere  shanty,  for 
more  than  two  hours.  As  we  had  not  expected  to  make  a 
stop  there,  no  accommodations  had  been  prepared,  and  no 
refreshments  were  provided.  It  was  near  five  o'clock  when 
we  started.  We  had  had  nothing  to  eat,  though  there  was 
no  lack  of  liquids,  every  passenger  almost  having  a  life-pre- 


610  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

server  in  his  carpet-bag.  Instead  of  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  as  was  the  program,  we  reached  Chicago  at  about 
nine  o'clock.  In  a  badly  lighted,  much  crowded  temporary 
depot,  the  reception-committee  had  awaited  our  arrival.  We 
were  uncomfortably  hungry  and  cold,  (no  cars  at  that  time 
had  stoves  or  any  other  appliances  for  warming  them,)  yet 
we  were  still  compelled  to  submit  to  a  rather  lengthy  address 
from  the  chairman  of  the  committee.  I  had  to  reply.  I  was 
very  brief,  and  said  that  we  were  much  gratified  by  the  hos- 
pitality of  the  city  tendered  to  us,  and  that  we  were  anxious 
to  avail  ourselves  immediately  of  that  privilege,  as  we  had  had 
nothing  to  eat  since  morning.  The  hint  was  taken,  and  car- 
riages were  immediately  ordered  to  take  us  to  our  hotels.  I 
made  the  remark  principally  for  the  reason  that  there  were 
several  of  our  party  ready  to  spin  out  the  speechifying  to  an 
indefinite  length. 

Most  of  us  were  taken  to  the  Tremont  House,  then  and 
for  many  years  after  considered  the  best  house  west  of  the 
Allegheny  Mountains. 

The  next  morning  we  were  driven  through  the  city,  which 
since  my  late  visit  in  1852,  had  very  greatly  improved  in  size 
and  in  beauty.  The  weather  for  the  season  was  delightful. 

The  gala  dinner  was  set  for  two  o'clock,  —  early,  because 
the  ball  was  to  open  at  nine  o'clock  the  same  evening.  The 
menu,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  time,  was  monstrous. 
It  contained  at  least  five  times  as  many  dishes  as  a  present 
fashionable  dinner  would,  filling  a  large  folio-sized  purple- 
colored  paper,  with  letters  in  gold.  The  wine  list  was  in  keep- 
ing. But  in  less  than  an  hour  the  dinner  was  swallowed.  Then 
came  the  speaking.  The  first  toast  was  "The  Governor."  I 
had  to  answer  that.  Then  came  "The  Legislature,"  when 
Governor  Reynolds  took  a  turn.  "The  State  of  Illinois," 
"The  Supreme  Court,"  "The  Bar,"  "The  City  of  Chicago," 
and  others  followed.  Some  of  the  speeches  were  excellent; 
most,  however,  too  long  and  prosy.  The  regular  toasts  having 
been  gone  through  with,  volunteers  followed  in  great  number. 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  611 

It  must  be  said  that  some  of  the  best  speakers  of  the  State 
were  present.  The  excellent  brands  of  champagne  did  not 
fail  to  bring  out  a  good  deal  of  wit  and  humor.  I  do  not  know 
how  long  this  oratorical  tournament  would  have  lasted,  if  I 
had  not  risen  from  the  table,  which  put  an  end  to  it. 

Not  many  of  the  guests  of  the  banquet  made  their  ap« 
pearance  at  the  ball,  which  was  not  opened  until  eleven  o'clock, 
for  the  reason  that  the  dining-room  had  to  be  cleared  and 
decorated  to  be  used  as  a  ball-room.  But  the  "beau  monde" 
of  Chicago  was  there.  I  had  to  be  in  the  first  quadrille.  My 
partner  was  a  very  graceful  young  girl,  the  daughter  of  the 
mayor,  Mr.  Sherman,  I  believe.  The  ball  was  a  great  suc- 
cess. The  rooms  were  decorated  with  the  choicest  flowers. 
The  toilettes  of  the  ladies  were  most  elegant,  and  the  music 
excellent.  It  was  two  o'clock  before  I  retired,  quite  fatigued. 

Next  day  I  spent  with  my  friends,  mostly  Germans.  At 
night,  some  German  societies  serenaded  me  at  the  Tremont. 
I  was  so  delighted  with  the  place  that  I  stayed  there  another 
day,  when  I  took  some  pleasant  rides  along  the  lake  front, 
leaving  late  in  the  evening,  and  arriving  in  Springfield  in 
time  to  open  the  session  on  Monday  morning. 

VISIT  OP  THE  LEGISLATURE  TO  ST.  LOUIS 

The  extra  session  was  drawing  to  a  close  when  the  Legis- 
lature was  invited  by  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  her  Chamber 
of  Commerce.  The  invitation  being  accepted,  on  the  first  of 
March  we  went  down  to  Alton,  about  one  hundred  people  in 
all,  and  took  the  boat  to  St.  Louis,  where  we  were  received  by 
a  committee  who  boarded  our  boat.  Henry  T.  Blow  made  an 
enthusiastic  speech  of  welcome.  Matteson  being  absent,  I 
had  to  reply.  We  were  taken  in  carriages,  escorted  by  volun- 
teer companies  of  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery,  to  the  court- 
house and  into  the  large  rotunda,  which  was  crowded  with 
gentlemen  and  ladies  probably  numbering  two  thousand.  May- 
or John  How  made  a  speech  of  welcome  on  behalf  of  the 
city,  which  I  had  to  answer.  We  were  then  taken  to  our  dif- 


612  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ferent  hotels.  St.  Louis,  then,  as  now,  somewhat  jealous  of 
Chicago,  had  determined  to  outdo  the  Garden  City  by  its 
hospitality.  That  evening  Major  How  gave  a  splendid  re- 
ception at  his  residence,  as  did  also  Colonel  Chambers  of  the 
"Missouri  Republican."  The  next  day,  after  driving  around 
the  city,  a  banquet  was  given  to  us  in  the  Mercantile  Library 
Hall.  The  table  was  set  for  six  hundred  persons,  the  dinner 
being  on  the  same  grand  scale  as  at  Chicago.  The  United 
States  Military  Band  played  during  the  repast.  John  A.  Kas- 
son  was  the  toast-master.  He  was  then  quite  young,  very  hand- 
some, and  of  winning  manners.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of  the 
eminent  Unitarian  minister,  Eliot,  who  was  sitting  to  my  right 
on  the  platform,  where  the  speakers,  the  mayor  and  the  speci- 
ally invited  guests  had  been  placed  at  a  separate  table.  Kas- 
son  was  a  lawyer,  and  one  of  the  best  after-dinner  speakers  I 
have  ever  heard.  He  at  a  later  period  removed  to  Iowa,  was  re- 
peatedly elected  to  Congress,  and  represented  under  Hayes 
and  Arthur  the  United  States,  first  at  Vienna  and  then  at 
Berlin.  I  met  him  much  later  (1883),  when  he  was  quite 
broken  down  in  health,  but  still  as  fond  of  making  speeches  as 
ever.  He  had  his  weaknesses,  but  I  always  considered  him  as 
one  of  our  best  instructed  statesmen,  and  what  is  more,  a  man 
of  some  genius. 

I  should  have  enjoyed  my  dinner  much  more,  had  I  not 
been  tortured  with  the  idea  of  having  to  make  another  speech, 
and  one  such  as  the  occasion  seemed  to  require.  I  had  to  re- 
spond to  the  first  toast,  "The  State  of  Illinois."  Our  best 
speakers  were  present,  Judge  Breese,  John  A.  Logan,  who  was 
quite  funny,  Burton  C.  Cook,  John  Reynolds,  and  others,  and 
St.  Louis  presented  as  many  good  and  even  better  ones.  John 
Brough,  the  president  of  the  new  railroad,  made  the  best 
speech  of  all.  The  ball  was  at  the  theatre  on  Market  Street. 
I  had  urged  Sophie  very  much  to  come  over,  but  she  declined, 
partly  because  our  little  Victor  was  quite  unwell,  partly  be- 
cause she  was  no  great  friend  of  such  revelries.  It  was  near 
midnight  before  the  ball  opened.  I  was  introduced  to  Miss 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  613 

X.,  then  considered  the  belle  of  St.  Louis,  and  opened  the  ball 
with  her.  Next  morning  I  returned  to  my  home,  extremely 
glad  of  being  released. 

LOSS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  GLASGOW 

Of  course  I  had  had  many  pleasant  and  interesting  hours, 
but  also  a  great  deal  of  vexation  of  spirit.  Jacob  had  written 
home  that  he  had  engaged  passage  on  the  steamer  City  of 
Glasgow,  which  was  to  sail  from  Liverpool  on  the  first  of 
March.  We  expected  him  about  the  middle  of  the  month. 
About  that  time,  some  steamers  that  had  left  Liverpool  and 
London  early  in  March,  had  arrived  in  New  York,  reporting 
very  heavy  storms  and  a  number  of  icebergs,  which  was  very 
unusual  at  this  early  season.  Of  course,  we  felt  some  anxiety. 
It  was  surmised,  however,  by  some  of  the  Eastern  papers,  that 
the  City  of  Glasgow  might  have  had  some  of  her  machinery 
disabled  in  the  storm  and  was  now  relying  on  her  sails,  when 
she  could  not  well  be  expected  before  the  end  of  March.  Our 
anxiety  increased  from  day  to  day.  Sometimes  there  were 
rumors  that  she  had  been  seen  out  of  her  course,  but  these  all 
proved  unfounded.  In  the  midst  of  April  hope  had  almost 
vanished,  and  at  the  end  of  the  month  was  given  up.  No  ves- 
tige of  her  was  ever  found,  not  even  a  plank  that  might  have 
identified  her.  The  blow  was  a  terrible  one  and  our  grand- 
parents were  disconsolate.  Mr.  Engelmann,  although  now 
seventy-six  years  of  age,  had  generally  enjoyed  good  health. 
He  still  loved  to  work  assiduously  in  his  vineyard  and  garden. 
He  was  much  interested  in  all  that  was  going  on  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe,  where  the  Crimean  war  had  just  be- 
gun; but  the  terrible  suspense  for  weeks,  the  final  certainty 
of  the  death  of  his  son,  together  with  that  of  his  betrothed  and 
her  sister,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  manner  in  which  they 
perished,  leaving  room  for  the  most  horrible  imaginings,  was 
too  much  for  him,  and  a  few  months  afterwards,  in  August, 
a  short  but  acute  sickness  removed  him  from  us.  His  gener- 
ous, pure  and  noble  heart  had  been  broken. 


614  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

Jacob  had  never  left  the  farm,  and  had  carried  it  on  quite 
successfully  during  the  last  five  or  six  years.  He  had  also 
acquired  land  of  his  own  near  the  old  farm.  The  consequence 
of  Jacob's  loss  was,  that  Adolphus,  who  was  then  practicing 
law  in  St.  Louis,  abandoned  his  profession  and  came  back  to 
take  care  of  the  farm. 

Early  in  June  our  son  Theodore  was  summoned  to  West 
Point.  He  went  from  us,  alas !  never  to  return. 

DOUGLAS  AND  THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA   BILL 

This  year  was  in  many  respects  a  critical  one  for  me. 
The  territory  west  of  the  Missouri  to  the  crest  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  acquired  by  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  was  settling 
pretty  rapidly,  and  it  became  necessary  to  provide  a  Terri- 
torial government  for  it.  Judge  Douglas,  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Territories  in  the  Senate,  had  brought  in  a  bill 
to  organize  the  Territory  of  Nebraska,  which  contained  the  or- 
dinary provisions  of  such  Territorial  bills.  But  by  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise  it  had  been  stipulated  that  all  territory 
north  of  the  southern  line  of  Missouri,  that  is  to  say,  North 
of  latitude  36°  30',  should  be  forever  free.  This  new  Nebraska 
Territory  was  north  of  that  line,  but  the  bill  did  not  only  not 
exclude  slavery,  but,  on  the  contrary,  even  declared,  by  an 
amendment,  that  the  clause  of  the  act  of  1820  admitting  Mis- 
souri into  the  Union  which  excluded  slavery  from  the  other 
territories  acquired  by  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  was  inopera- 
tive and  void. 

As  in  1850,  when  the  contest  arose  about  the  admission  of 
California,  it  was  now  claimed  that  Congress  had  no  right  to 
legislate  about  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and,  by  the  extreme 
Southern  party,  that  neither  Congress  nor  the  people  of  the 
Territories  could  exclude  slavery,  inasmuch  as  every  citizen 
had  a  right  to  go  into  a  new  Territory  with  all  his  property, 
including  slaves.  The  Free  Soil  party  insisted  that  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise  had  settled  the  question,  and  that  these 
Territories  were  free  and  that  no  slavery  could  be  introduced. 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  615 

It  was  soon  manifest  that  the  compromise  measures  of  1850 
had  only  produced  a  lull  in  the  exciting  question  of  slavery, 
and  a  conflict  now  arose  more  bitter  than  ever  over  this 
Nebraska  Bill.  Perhaps  for  the  purpose  of  conciliating  the 
opposition,  Douglas  amended  the  bill,  making  two  Territories 
where  there  was  to  have  been  one,  the  northern  to  be  called 
Nebraska,  the  southern  Kansas.  Nebraska,  of  course,  offered 
no  inducements  for  slave-labor,  whereas  Kansas,  lying  imme- 
diately west  of  Missouri,  might  do  so. 

Douglas,  by  advancing  the  principle  of  leaving  it  to  the 
settlers  in  these  new  territories  to  decide  this  question,  — 
which  he  assumed  would  never  be  decided  in  favor  of  slav- 
ery, —  prevailed  on  some  of  the  Northern  Democrats  to  adopt 
his  doctrine,  which  he  had  baptized  "Popular  Sovereignty," 
better  known  among  the  people  as  "Squatter  Sovereignty." 
The  bill,  which  is  usually  called  the  Nebraska  Bill,  though,  as 
it  turned  out,  it  was  Kansas  that  was  to  become  the  battle- 
ground in  the  near  future,  contained  this  most  singular 
clause : 

"It  being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to 
legislate  slavery  into  any  territory  or  state,  nor  to  exclude  it 
therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to 
regulate  and  form  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own 
way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Such  an  argumentative  clause  in  a  law  was  almost  with- 
out parallel  in  legislation,  and  Colonel  Benton  styled  it  very 
properly  a  bill  with  "a  stump  speech  in  its  belly."  It  was 
a  very  adroit  attempt  to  capture  the  Northern  as  well  as  the 
Southern  vote.  In  the  North  the  people  were  told  that  when 
they  emigrated  into  a  territory  they  did  not  lose  their  sov- 
ereign rights,  and  that  their  own  Legislature  could  legislate 
on  all  subjects,  the  subject  of  slavery  included.  The  dear 
people  were  always  right,  and  the  people  in  the  other  States 
had  no  interest  in  the  question  whether  slavery  was  voted  for 
or  down  in  Kansas  or  Nebraska.  The  South  generally  was 
in  favor  of  repealing  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  they  were 
not  afraid  of  the  Territorial  people  legislating  against  slav- 


616  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNEE 

ery,  as  the  majority  of  the  settlers  would  naturally  come  from 
Missouri,  a  slave-holding  State.  The  Southern  Ultras,  who 
denied  this  counterfeit  popular  sovereignty,  relied  on  that 
part  of  the  clause  which  made  the  action  of  the  Territorial 
Legislature,  " subject  to  the  Constitution,"  for,  according  to 
their  view,  the  Constitution  permitted  people  to  settle  in  the 
Territory  with  their  property,  slaves  and  all. 

Douglas  had  his  eye  fixed  on  the  Presidency.  This  idea 
had  taken  such  a  hold  of  him  as  to  obscure  his  mind,  other- 
wise so  clear.  He  had  received  at  the  last  national  conven- 
tion in  1852  a  very  flattering  vote  for  President.  He  expected 
to  get  the  nomination  in  1856,  but  of  course  he  must  get  the 
South,  and  they  gave  him  to  understand  that  if,  in  organiz- 
ing the  Territories,  he  should  exclude  slavery  under  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise,  he  would  not  get  any  Southern  support. 
So  he  introduced  these  bills,  and  thereby,  as  some  of  his  best 
friends  told  him,  sealed  his  political  doom.  He,  himself,  had 
prophesied  it.  In  the  excited  debates  of  1850  on  the  admis- 
sion of  California,  the  idea  had  been  advanced  that  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise  was  of  doubtful  constitutionality,  and  ought 
to  be  repealed.  Douglas  indignantly  repudiated  this  view: 

"The  Missouri  Compromise  is  tantamount  to  the  com- 
promises of  the  Constitution  as  our  fathers  made  them.  It 
has  been  canonized  in  the  hearts  of  the  American  people,  which 
no  ruthless  hand  ought  to  dare  to  disturb. ' ' 

With  the  help  of  the  strong  pressure  of  Pierce 's  admin- 
istration, the  bill  passed  by  a  large  vote  in  the  Senate  in 
March,  but  it  was  strongly  resisted  in  the  House,  and  passed 
the  House  on  May  24,  1854,  only  after  a  most  bitter  and  spir- 
ited debate,  by  a  majority  of  fifteen  votes. 

Shields  had  voted  for  the  Douglas  Bill,  as  he  wrote  me, 
with  great  reluctance.  Bissell,  on  the  contrary,  in  perfect 
unison  with  my  views,  opposed  it  strenuously.  His  very  poor 
health  forbade  him  to  fight  it  in  the  House,  he  being  confined 
to  his  bed  most  of  the  time.  When  the  vote  was  about  to 
be  taken,  he  was  very  sick,  and  almost  expected  to  die.  He 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  617 

instructed,  however,  a  member  from  Illinois  to  state  in  the 
House  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  bill,  and  that  if  the  defeat 
of  the  bill  depended  on  his  vote,  he  would  have  himself  car- 
ried into  the  House  on  a  cot  to  cast  it. 

As  BisselPs  health  did  not  improve,  he  declined  being  a 
candidate  for  Congress  again.  He  would  have  been  reflected 
on  account  of  his  personal  popularity.  For  any  one  else 
belonging  to  the  Anti-Nebraska  Democracy  the  task  was  more 
difficult.  The  Douglas  party,  however,  committed  the  great- 
est mistake  by  nominating  Philip  Fouke  again.  Casting  our 
eyes  around,  we  in  St.  Clair  fixed  upon  Judge  Trumbull.  He 
had  resigned  the  judgeship  of  the  Supreme  Court  more  than  a 
year  before,  being  stricken  with  a  disease  which  he  considered 
incurable,  but  from  which  he  had  almost  miraculously  recov- 
ered. The  Nebraska  question  had  also  divided  the  Whig  party 
in  the  North.  In  the  South  there  was  nothing  left  of  it. 
Those  who  did  not  go  to  the  length  of  the  Ultras  joined  the 
Native  American  party.  In  the  North  the  Whig  party  had 
also  abdicated.  A  portion  of  them  with  Southern  proclivi- 
ties, (and  we  had  many  of  them  in  southern  Illinois,)  went 
over  to  the  Nebraska  Democracy.  Another  portion  became 
Know  Nothings.  The  great  bulk,  however,  of  the  Northern 
Whigs  favored  the  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats,  and  by  and  by 
formed,  with  the  latter,  the  Republican  party. 

Though  just  at  election  time  I  was  taken  with  an  inflam- 
mation of  the  eye,  which  at  first  was  very  painful,  I  did  my 
best  for  Trumbull 's  election.  I  recollect  that  I  made  a  speech 
against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  at  the  court- 
house in  Waterloo,  where  I  had  the  light  removed  from  near 
the  stand  from  which  I  spoke,  because  I  could  not  bear  its 
glare,  and  where  I  had  my  eyes  partly  bandaged.  But  my 
heart  was  in  the  cause  more  than  on  any  previous  occasion. 

My  situation  was  a  very  peculiar  one.  On  all  other  ques- 
tions which  had  divided  the  two  great  parties,  I  was  as  sin- 
cere a  Democrat  as  ever.  That  party  had  on  every  occasion 
favored  me.  A  great  many  of  my  personal  friends  still  clung 


618 

to  it.  Every  office  I  had  aspired  to,  that  party  had  given  me. 
I  was,  as  my  Democratic  friends  advised  me,  in  the  line  of  pro- 
motion. If  I  would  stand  firmly  by  Douglas,  in  the  very 
probable  case  of  his  becoming  President,  I  should  be  his  suc- 
cessor in  the  Senate,  or  any  foreign  mission  would  be  at  my 
command.  My  personal  relations  to  Douglas  were  of  the 
closest  kind.  Only  two  years  before  we  had  stood  shoulder 
to  shoulder  in  canvassing  the  State.  Shields  and  I  had  for 
nearly  twenty  years  been  intimate  friends.  In  southern  Illi- 
nois opposition  to  Douglas  was  for  years  to  come  political 
ostracism.  I  must  say  that  I  left  my  old  party  not  without 
many  pangs,  and  that  it  cost  me  much  to  burn  my  bridges. 
But  while  I  never  could  be  carried  so  far  as  to  dislike  the 
Southern  people,  except  some  of  their  ambitious  and  unscrup- 
ulous leaders,  I  always  hated  slavery,  and  while  constitu- 
tionally I  saw  no  way  of  abolishing  it,  I  could  not  prevail  on 
myself  to  favor  it  in  any  way  whatever,  or  to  extend  it  into 
any  Territory  heretofore  declared  to  be  free. 

ROBERT   HILQARD   AND   HENRY  VILLARD 

In  the  fall  arrived  Robert  Hilgard,  son  of  Frederick  Hil- 
gard,  Sr.,  and  Margaretha  Engelmann,  and  a  nephew  of 
Sophie.  He  had  received  a  thorough  mercantile  education  at 
Frankfort,  and  had  held  a  very  enviable  position  at  one  of 
the  Frankfort  banking-houses.  For  years  he  had  been  living 
with  sister  Pauline,  and  had  acted  towards  her  as  a  most  faith- 
ful brother.  He,  however,  had  for  a  long  time  desired  to  seek 
his  fortune  in  the  United  States,  and  finally  determined  to 
leave  his  home  and  all  the  fair  prospects  before  him.  And 
now  Pauline  had  another  excellent  opportunity  to  carry  out 
her  long  cherished  wish  to  join  me.  She  had  already  made 
arrangements  to  dispose  of  her  property.  I  had  sent  her  a 
bill  of  exchange  for  her  traveling  expenses,  when,  as  several 
times  before,  she  was  again  prostrated  on  her  bed  by  a  most 
serious  illness.  Most  reluctantly  she  gave  up  her  plan,  and 
this  time  forever. 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  619 

After  staying  for  some  time  with  his  relatives  in  and 
around  Belleville,  Robert  found  a  situation  in  a  banking-house 
at  Dubuque,  where  he  remained  several  years  before  he 
returned  to  Belleville  to  take  the  position  of  cashier  in  a  Belle- 
ville bank,  now  the  Belleville  Savings  Bank. 

Not  long  after  Robert 's  arrival  we  were  surprised  to  learn 
that  Henry  Hilgard,  son  of  Gustav  Hilgard,  another  son  of 
Frederick  Hilgard,  Sr.,  and  a  member  of  the  highest  Court  of 
Appeal  in  Bavaria,  residing  in  Munich,  had  made  his  appear- 
ance in  Chicago,  from  which  place  he  wrote  to  his  relatives 
in  Belleville,  informing  them  that  he  had  reached  Chicago, 
and,  failing  to  find  suitable  employment  there,  was  now  in 
great  distress  and  without  means.  Robert  was  at  once  dis- 
patched to  bring  him  down.  Henry  was  a  very  gifted  and 
well  educated  youth  of  prepossessing  appearance  and  genial 
manners.  Having  been  an  only  son,  he  had  been  treated  with 
too  much  indulgence  by  his  parents,  and  had  been  careless  in 
the  use  of  money.  At  the  University  he  spent  his  money  indis- 
criminately and  extravagantly,  so  that  at  last  there  was  a 
falling  out  between  his  father  and  himself,  hi  consequence  of 
which  he  left  the  University  without  the  consent  and  knowl- 
edge of  his  parents  and  made  his  way  to  America.  We,  of 
course,  did  not  approve  of  his  conduct ;  but  his  very  agreeable 
manners  soon  reconciled  us  somewhat  with  the  wayward  young 
man.  I  succeeded  after  a  while  in  securing  him  employment 
as  a  deputy  clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  a  neighboring  county. 
But  he  did  not  stay  long.  He  had  concluded  to  follow  up  his 
study  of  the  law,  which  he  had  commenced  in  Germany.  He 
asked  my  advice  where  to  go  for  that  purpose.  I  recom- 
mended Peoria  and  gave  him  the  best  recommendations  to  my 
friend,  Mr.  Manning,  one  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  in  the 
State.  He  went  there,  and  Manning  took  him  at  once  into 
his  office.  The  next  we  heard  of  him,  he  was  again  in  Chicago 
in  some  land-agency,  in  the  interest  of  which  he  made  a  jour- 
ney to  the  Western  Territories  and  the  Pacific  States.  On  one 
of  his  expeditions  he  fell  in  with  Horace  Greeley,  who  was 


620  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

then  making  his  western  tour.  Horace  took  a  great  liking 
to  him,  which  may  account  for  Henry's  later  connection  with 
Greeley  and  the  "New  York  Tribune."  For  some  years,  and 
through  the  war,  we  lost  sight  of  Henry  Hilgard,  who  after- 
wards adopted  the  name  of  Villard  while  acting  as  war-corre- 
spondent for  the  "Tribune."  It  was  only  some  years  after 
the  war  that  our  relations  with  him  were  renewed. 

Our  Theodore  had  passed  his  examination  at  West  Point 
successfully,  appeared  to  be  very  well  satisfied,  and  turned  out 
a  very  diligent  correspondent.  Toward  the  end  of  the  year 
he  was  preparing  for  his  second  examination  to  take  place  at 
New  Year. 

In  July  our  new  house  had  been  finished.  It  was  a  great 
improvement  on  our  old  one,  and  in  August  we  moved  into  it. 

THE   PROHIBITION   AGITATION 

The  legislative  session  of  1855  was  a  very  agitated  one. 
In  1853,  the  attempt  to  pass  a  prohibition  law  had  been  easily 
defeated.  But  since  that  time  the  Prohibition  party  had  been 
well  organized.  Several  newspapers  had  been  established, 
exclusively  to  propagate  the  prohibition  doctrine.  Petitions 
to  the  Legislature  for  the  passage  of  a  prohibitory  law  had 
been  circulated  all  over  the  State,  were  signed  by  thousands 
of  men,  women  and  children,  mostly  school-children.  A  com- 
mittee of  the  most  determined  leaders  in  that  direction  had 
been  appointed  to  lobby  the  measure  in  the  Legislature.  Large 
temperance  meetings  were  held  during  the  session.  Ship- 
wrecked politicians,  largely  of  the  Whig  stamp,  sought  resur- 
rection by  making  themselves  conspicuous  in  this  new  party 
movement.  Both  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  House  a  bill  was 
introduced  modeled  after  the  famous  Maine  Liquor  Law,  pro- 
hibiting the  manufacture  and  sale  of  all  spirituous  liquors, 
including  beer  and  even  native  wine,  with  its  infamous  clauses 
of  confiscation,  search-warrants,  premiums  to  spies  and  denun- 
ciators. The  bill  in  the  Senate  was  referred  to  a  committee 
of  the  whole  House,  giving  me  again  an  opportunity  of  express- 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  621 

ing  my  opposition  to  the  measure.  Personally,  I  should  not 
have  cared  anything  about  the  matter,  knowing  full  well  that 
I  for  one  could  have  enjoyed  the  use  of  any  or  all  kinds  of 
liquor  that  I  might  feel  disposed  to  use.  But  on  principle 
I  looked  on  such  and  similar  laws  as  a  ruthless  attempt  on 
personal  liberty,  as  wholly  unrepublican,  as  productive  of 
moral  evils,  and  as  far  outweighing  all  expected  benefits.  I 
attacked  the  arguments  of  the  Prohibitionists  one  by  one,  and 
showed  that  their  general  allegations  were  not  borne  out  by 
historical  proofs.  Nearly  all  our  criminals  in  the  peniten- 
tiaries, they  contended,  were  victims  of  intemperance.  The 
report  from  the  commissioners  of  our  penitentiary  did  not 
give  any  data  as  to  the  former  habits  of  our  prisoners,  but  they 
did  show  what  the  character  of  the  offenses  was  for  which  they 
were  confined.  Three-fourths  of  them  had  been  convicted  of 
crimes  against  property.  They  were  either  housebreakers, 
pickpockets,  embezzlers,  forgers,  or  ordinary  thieves.  Now 
most  of  that  class  of  culprits  are  very  far  from  being  intem- 
perate; they  could  not  exercise  their  profession  unless  they 
were  sober.  I  also  asserted  that  some  of  the  most  dangerous 
members  of  the  community,  who  knew  enough,  however,  to 
keep  out  of  the  penitentiary,  such  as  railroad-smashers,  stock- 
jobbers, fraudulent  bankrupts,  etc.,  were  generally  not  only 
sober,  but,  apparently  at  least,  very  pious  men. 

The  insane  asylums,  it  was  further  contended  by  the  Pro- 
hibitionists, were  filled  with  patients  who  had  lost  their  senses 
by  indulgence  in  drink.  In  the  reports  of  the  trustees  of 
the  Illinois  Insane  Asylum  the  causes  of  insanity  were  approx- 
imately given,  which  gave  me  a  strong  argument  against  the 
sweeping  assertions  of  the  temperance  people.  In  the  first 
place,  there  were  more  insane  women  than  men,  and  it  could 
not  be  presumed  that  any  appreciable  number  of  the  first  had 
been  victims  of  intemperance.  Again,  the  number  of  persons 
who  were  reported  as  having  been  formerly  intemperate,  was 
less  than  those  who  lost  their  reason  on  account  of  unrequited 
love,  and  far  less  than  those  who  became  insane  from  relig- 


622  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

ious  excitement.  When  I  gave  these  figures  from  the  two  last 
biennial  reports  of  the  officers  of  the  asylum,  the  surprise  of 
the  audience  was  remarkable.  The  galleries  being  filled  with 
ladies,  I  enforced  my  argument  by  a  playful  reference  to 
Semiramis,  Sappho,  and  Dido,  setting  the  whole  house  hi 
laughter. 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  bill  could  not  pass  in  either 
House.  But  the  Prohibitionists  stole  a  flank  march  on  the 
Liberals.  They  amended  the  House  bill  by  adding  a  clause 
to  it  that  the  law  should  not  go  into  effect  until  the  people  had 
approved  of  it  at  a  special  election  to  be  held  on  the  first  Mon- 
day of  June  next.  Now  the  Whigs  were  almost  to  a  man  in 
favor  of  the  law,  hoping  to  break  up  the  Democratic  party  on 
that  issue.  The  Democrats  who  had  a  majority  of  both  Houses 
were  generally  opposed  to  it.  But  now  it  was  argued  that 
anybody,  even  its  opponents,  could  vote  for  it.  The  dear  peo- 
ple would  have  the  responsibility,  and  it  would  be  wrong  to 
deprive  our  sovereigns  of  the  right  to  settle  the  matter  them- 
selves. Of  course  this  was  mere  sophistry.  According  to  this 
argument  every  law  ought  to  be  referred  to  the  people  for  final 
sanction,  and  the  legislative  power  might  as  well  at  once  abdi- 
cate. The  idea  that  a  man  should  vote  for  a  law  which  he 
conscientiously  held  to  be  bad,  was  in  itself  an  immoral  one. 
Still  it  captured  enough  weak-kneed  Democrats  to  pass  the  law 
with  the  "Plebiscite  Clause." 

No  sooner  was  the  session  closed  than  a  tremendous  agita- 
tion commenced.  Temperance  lecturers,  mostly  half  crazy 
females,  in  the  State  and  from  outside  States,  perambulated 
the  country.  Millions  of  temperance  tracts  full  of  exaggera- 
tions and  the  vilest  objurgations  against  the  opponents  of  the 
law,  were  distributed  in  all  the  public  schools  and  railroad 
trains,  and  scattered  through  the  squares  and  streets  of  cities 
and  villages.  The  Personal  Liberty  party  set  up  an  anti- 
Prohibition  organ.  It  was  very  well  conducted  and  void  of  all 
vindictiveness.  Its  most  convincing  arguments  were  extracts 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  623 

from  the  inflammatory,  almost  insane,  articles  of  the  Prohi- 
bition press. 

Owing  to  the  decided  stand  I  had  taken  against  the  law 
in  the  Legislature,  and  some  hard  hits  I  had  given  to  religious 
hypocrites,  I  came  in  for  a  very  large  share  of  abuse,  although 
a  very  sad  event  prevented  me  from  taking  part  to  any  great 
extent  in  this  important  contest. 

The  temperance  people  had  relied  a  good  deal  on  the  elec- 
tion being  a  special  one,  and  one  where  only  a  principle  was 
involved.  In  such  elections,  as  no  offices  are  to  be  struggled 
for,  generally  a  large  portion  of  the  voters  stay  at  home.  The 
Prohibition  party,  being  thoroughly  organized  in  every  county, 
was  pretty  sure  of  rushing  most  of  their  adherents  to  the  polls. 
In  fact,  there  was  comparatively  but  a  small  vote  given,  except 
where  there  was  a  German  settlement.  The  Germans  turned 
out  to  a  man,  and,  it  was  charged,  also  to  a  woman,  voting 
against  the  law.  In  the  Belleville  Judicial  District,  com- 
prising only  about  twelve  counties,  the  majority  against  the 
law  was  nine  thousand.  Quincy,  Peoria  and  Chicago  also 
went  largely  against  it.  The  majority  in  the  whole  State, 
(the  northern  counties  having  generally  given  majorities  for 
it,)  was  still  fifteen  thousand.  Thus  was  Prohibition  killed 
in  Illinois  for  nearly  a  generation. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  I  had  the  pleasure  of  signing 
one  of  the  most  important  bills,  the  law  establishing  our  free 
school  system,  during  this  session. 

TRUMBULL  ELECTED  SENATOR 

In  another  respect  this  session  was  also  an  exciting  one. 
Shields 's  senatorial  term  expired  on  the  fourth  of  March,  1855. 
A  new  Senator  had  to  be  elected.  In  the  caucus  of  the  Demo- 
crats he  was  easily  nominated ;  but  some  six  members  did  not 
go  into  the  caucus.  These  were  determined  to  support  no 
Democrat  who  had  voted  for  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  involv- 
ing the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  Both  Houses  met 
in  joint  session.  They  together  contained  ninety-nine  votes, 


MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

one  member  absent.  The  Whigs  had  nominated  Abraham  Lin- 
coln. Upon  the  first  ballot,  Shields  received  forty-two,  two 
Nebraska  Democrats  throwing  their  votes  differently ;  Lincoln 
forty-five;  Trumbull  five,  and  I  two;  three  Whigs  voting  for 
Williams.  Shields,  it  was  supposed,  might  have  got  the  two 
votes  cast  for  me.  Still,  that  would  have  given  him  only 
forty-four  votes,  while  fifty  were  necessary  to  an  election. 
The  five  for  Trumbull  it  was  impossible  to  change  between  him 
and  Shields.  The  Whigs  dropped  Lincoln,  and  commenced 
concentrating  on  Trumbull.  The  Democrats  then  on  the  ninth 
ballot  tried  Matteson,  who  actually  got  forty-eight  votes. 
The  Whigs,  who  were  all  anti-Nebraska,  became  alarmed  lest 
Matteson,  who,  although  he  had  never  publicly  made  any 
declaration  in  favor  of  the  Nebraska  Bill,  yet  was  known  to  be 
a  strong  supporter  of  Douglas,  would  be  elected  at  the  next 
ballot,  and  voted  for  Trumbull;  so  that  by  the  next  ballot 
Trumbull  got  fifty  votes.  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  and 
WTiigs  elected  him. 

The  two  votes  I  had  received  were  from  the  two  mem- 
bers from  St.  Clair,  Doctor  Trapp  and  William  C.  Kinney. 
I  was  not  a  candidate,  and  would  under  no  circumstances 
have  run  against  Shields.  The  reason,  however,  they  voted 
for  me  was,  first,  that  we  had  by  the  greatest  efforts  just 
elected  Judge  Trumbull  for  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
Congress,  and  they  feared,  (and  the  event  justified  them,)  that 
if  Trumbull  went  into  the  Senate,  a  new  election  would 
become  necessary,  the  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  would  be 
beaten,  and  a  Nebraska  Democrat  would  get  his  seat  in  the 
House,  which  might  possibly  change  the  complexion  of  the 
House.  Besides,  they  really  preferred  me  to  Trumbull,  and 
in  so  close  a  contest  it  might  happen  that  they  held  the  balance 
of  power  and  could  have  compelled  Trumbull's  friends  to 
vote  for  me. 

I  had  no  vote  myself.  After  Shields  was  out  of  the  race, 
I  could  with  propriety  have  been  a  candidate  against  Matte- 
son,  or  anybody  else.  I  confess  in  this  crisis  my  feelings  were 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  625 

much  mixed.  Shields,  I  knew,  had  been  at  the  start 
unfriendly  to  the  measure,  but  had  yielded  to  Douglas,  his 
life-long  friend.  Besides,  the  last  Legislature  had  endorsed 
Douglas,  and  had  instructed  the  Senator  to  vote  for  the  bill. 
An  effort  in  this  session  to  instruct  him  otherwise  had  failed, 
and  would  have  come  too  late  anyway,  because  the  bill  had 
passed.  We  had  fought  shoulder  to  shoulder  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  and  were  intimate  personal  friends.  If  he  had 
been  elected,  I  should  have  been  satisfied.  Matteson  was  also 
my  personal  friend ;  but  I  could  only  have  been  in  favor  of  his 
election,  if  he  had  shared  my  views  upon  this  all-absorbing 
issue.  On  principle,  therefore,  as  also  on  account  of  fitness, 
I  preferred  Trumbull  to  Matteson.  But  I  had  the  same 
objection  to  him  as  my  friends  from  St.  Clair  had.  All  that 
I  can  say  is  that  Trumbull 's  election  was  not  altogether  satis- 
factory to  me,  but  still  commanded  the  assent  of  my  judgment. 
No  Democrat,  I  knew  very  well  from  my  intimate  knowledge 
of  TrumbuH's  peculiar  ability,  could  cope  with  Douglas  bet- 
ter than  he.  He  was  as  untiring  and  indefatigable  in  argu- 
ment as  Douglas ;  indeed,  no  one  could  wear  him  out.  While 
he  could  not  perhaps  present  his  views  as  strongly  and  impres- 
sively as  Douglas,  he  was  a  master  in  discovering  every  weak 
point  in  the  armor  of  his  antagonist  and  never  failed  to  hit  it. 
Lincoln  at  a  subsequent  time,  it  was  generally  considered,  got 
the  better  of  Douglas  in  argument.  But  the  reason,  in  my 
opinion,  was  that  he  had  the  best  side  of  the  cause.  Trum- 
bull was  able,  if  he  chose,  to  beat  a  very  strong  man,  even  if 
he  had  the  worst  cause. 

There  was  a  remote  chance  of  my  election,  although  1 
had  definitely  stated  that  I  was  no  candidate.  Yet,  if  elected, 
it  would  have  been  very  gratifying  to  me.  Not  over  ambitious, 
I  had  a  due  share  of  that  passion,  without  which  really  no 
great  thing  can  be  accomplished.  And  yet  to  have  been 
elected  practically  by  the  Whig  party  would  have  been  quite 
distasteful  to  me. 


626 

Shields  was  bitterly  disappointed.  He  left  the  State 
almost  immediately,  bought  a  farm  in  Minnesota  and  inter- 
ested himself  in  the  new  town  of  Faribault,  which  was  col- 
onized largely  by  Irishmen.  On  the  first  of  October  he  wrote 
me  from  Faribault :  ' '  Here  I  am  doing  well,  collecting  prop- 
erty around  me.  I  have  a  hundred  head  of  horned  cattle  and 
sheep  and  horses.  I  have  taken  an  interest  in  the  town  from 
which  I  write,  one  of  the  prettiest  spots  in  the  Territory,  and 
I  might  say  in  the  United  States." 

EMERSON 

Early  in  the  session  I  had  the  great  pleasure  of  becoming 
somewhat  acquainted  with  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  He  was 
on  a  lecturing  tour  and  visited  Springfield.  On  the  day  he 
was  to  lecture,  he  had  attended  the  session  of  the  Senate  in 
the  morning,  and  after  dinner  he  called  at  my  room  at  the 
American  House.  He  had  learned,  he  said,  that  I  was  a  Ger- 
man, and  he  felt  some  interest  in  making  my  acquaintance. 
He  inquired,  when  I  left  Germany,  how  I  had  come  to  pursue 
the  profession  of  law  here,  and  how  I  liked  it.  In  the  course 
of  the  conversation,  I  having  named  the  universities  I  had  fre- 
quented, he  spoke  of  the  German  educational  system  very 
highly,  and  particularly  of  the  German  Universities,  which  he 
said  allowed  so  much  freedom  to  the  students  in  selecting  their 
professors  and  the  branches  they  wished  to  study,  which  was 
so  foreign  to  the  English  university  system.  As  he  had 
already  been  twice  in  Europe,  there  were  many  subjects  we 
could  talk  about ;  and  we  also  interchanged  our  opinions  pretty 
freely  regarding  the  state  of  culture  in  the  United  States. 

Emerson  was  rather  tall,  and  not  very  robustly  built.  His 
face  was  long,  his  hair  and  complexion  fair,  his  eyes,  I  believe, 
gray  or  light  blue,  his  mouth  large  and  his  nose  very  promi- 
nent. It  was  on  the  Roman  order.  There  was  a  pleasant, 
genial  smile  about  his  lips.  He  spoke  rather  deliberately,  but 
very  plainly,  and  without  the  least  affectation.  His  voice 
was  very  fine,  at  that  time  at  least.  It  was  a  pleasure  to  listen 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORSHIP  627 

to  him.  He  was  with  me  more  than  an  hour.  In  the  evening 
I  attended  his  lecture  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. It  was  a  chapter  of  his  "English  Traits,"  published 
soon  after.  It  was  highly  interesting,  though  most  of  the 
audience  would  have  preferred  coarser  food. 

THEODORE  KOERNEfi's   DEATH 

Theodore  had  passed  his  New  Year's  examination  satis- 
factorily. He  enjoyed  —  he  wrote  me  —  better  health  than 
at  home,  though  the  climate  was  more  severe.  He  thought 
that  if  he  was  successful  at  the  next  June  examination  he 
would  get  a  furlough  for  several  weeks,  as  he  had  thus  far 
no  demerit  marks,  when  he  would  come  to  see  us.  Upon  the 
whole,  he  appeared  to  be  much  pleased. 

About  the  ninth  or  tenth  of  April,  I  received  a  letter 
postmarked  "West  Point,"  but  addressed  in  a  strange  hand. 
I  opened  it  with  some  trepidation.  It  was  from  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Academy,  and  its  first  line  read  as  follows: 
"It  has  become  my  melancholy  duty  to  inform  you  that  your 
son  Theodore  died  on  the  third  of  this  month."  I  could  read 
no  farther.  I  staggered  home  from  my  office  in  a  trance.  I 
met  Sophie  on  the  veranda.  "I  have  just  got  a  letter  from 
West  Point  that  Theodore  is  very  sick. ' '  She  looked  up  to  me, 
threw  herself  in  my  arms,  saying  in  a  low  voice, ' '  He  is  dead. ' ' 
I  said  no  more. 

The  letter,  and  one  arriving  the  next  day  from  the  sur- 
geon, stated  that  about  ten  days  before  Theodore  had  reported 
himself  sick  at  the  hospital.  He  was  supposed  to  be  suffering 
from  a  bad  cold,  but  had  nearly  gotten  over  it  in  a  few  days, 
when  he  expressed  a  desire  to  leave  the  hospital.  But  all  at 
once  peritonitis  set  in,  which  put  an  end  to  his  life  in  less  than 
three  days.  So  unexpectedly  had  the  disease  taken  a  fatal 
turn  that  they  had  not  time  to  inform  us  of  his  sickness.  Why 
they  did  not  telegraph,  they  did  not  explain. 

I  immediately  sent  a  telegram  requesting  the  sending  of 
his  remains.  I  was  answered  that  he  was  already  interred  and 


628  MEMOIRS  OF  GUSTAVE  KOERNER 

not  in  a  metallic  coffin.  Besides,  it  was  against  the  rules.  A 
cemetery  was  expressly  dedicated  for  the  burial  of  the  officers 
and  cadets  of  the  Academy.  It  would  require  an  express 
order  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  allow  the  removal  of  the 
remains.  His  class  had  already  raised  a  contribution  to  erect 
him  a  monument. 

A  few  days  afterwards  I  received  a  report  of  a  meeting 
of  his  class-mates  in  which  they  passed  warm  resolutions  of 
sympathy,  and  ordered  them  to  be  sent  to  us  and  published  in 
the  "New  York  Herald." 

If  there  was  consolation  in  the  many  expressions  of  con- 
dolence we  received  from  friends  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  more  particularly  from  those  who  had  known  Theodore, 
we  were  not  in  want  of  it.  But  I  consider  such  sincere  sym- 
pathy rather  as  an  evidence  of  the  greatness  of  the  loss.  He 
died,  the  superintendent  and  chaplain  told  us,  perfectly  com- 
posed, clear  in  his  head  to  the  last  moment. 

He  was  a  truthful,  manly  boy.  Had  he  lived,  he  would 
have  made  his  mark  in  the  army.  Not  perhaps  as  a  very  sci- 
entific officer,  but  as  one  in  whom  his  men  would  have  had  the 
utmost  confidence  and  whom  they  would  have  followed  where- 
ever  he  wished  to  lead. 

Many  years  afterwards,  while  steaming  to  Victoria,  an 
officer  of  the  army,  General  Hazen,  had  himself  introduced  to 
me,  and  made  himself  known  as  a  classmate  of  Theodore, 
speaking  of  him  in  the  highest  and  warmest  terms. 

Trumbull's  election  to  the  Senate  left  a  vacancy  in  our 
congressional  district,  which  was  to  be  filled,  as  was  supposed, 
by  a  special  election.  Judge  Trumbull  and  many  other  anti- 
Nebraska  Democrats  were  anxious  for  me  to  become  a  candi- 
date for  the  lower  house  of  Congress.  But  for  the  reasons 
which  at  former  times  made  me  decline,  and  which  still 
existed,  I  again  refused.  The  Governor,  however,  did  not 
order  a  special  election,  and  the  district  remained  unrepre- 
sented for  the  first  session  of  the  term. 


